There Are No Heroes in Gotham
by GothicCheshire
Summary: AU: Every child has a hero and all children must learn that their heroes are fallible. But when your hero is the Man of Steel himself and the consequences of failure are so great, can you truly cope? Being a JL origin story with a twist, also with no major OC's. Updated and Revised.
1. Superman

_Ladies and Gents, welcome to the newly revised and rewritten 'There are No Heroes in Gotham.' I do hope you enjoy your romp, and do keep in mind that some changes will be very minor, but others... This is a Nolanesque Batman in a cartoon Justice League universe. I do hope you will enjoy, and I also own nothing. For those of you that want to avoid rereading the entire thing, basically chapters two and three are the major ones you want to make sure to go through._

...

The sound of laughter filled the air, causing a woman to look up from what she was doing, a soft smile tugging on her lips in response. She turned her head, following the sound as it trailed from room to room in the overly large manor. An older man raised his head from where he was busy straightening the silken bed linens, the slightest of smiles meeting her own.

The door burst open suddenly and a small boy ran up to them, red sheet flowing behind him as he laughed and jumped. The boy giggled as his mother rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, mock glaring at him as the older man tried to catch the red and blue clad whirlwind as he leaped from one furnishing to another.

"You can't catch me! I'm Superman; I'm faster than a speeding bullet!" The boy shouted out, laughing as he swooped between the black clad arms as they tried to close around him.

"Be that as it may, sir, even Superman would have more regard for the furniture; please stop your jumping." The British accented voice was staunch and proper, the smallest tick of his lips belying his amusement. "Also, I believe I asked you to _bring_ the sheet, not wear it."

"But I needed a cape – I can't be Superman without a cape!" the boy giggled before launching himself up onto the bed, sending pillows and blankets scattering. "Here you go Alfred!" A wide grin spread across his face, black hair sticking up everywhere. Alfred Pennyworth took one look at the mess and raised a single eyebrow.

"Very good, Master Bruce, but I believe that you are now going to help me remake it." His crossed arms and the eyebrows hovering over piercing blue eyes caused the beaming smile to wilt. Blue-clad arms were crossed in front of the small boy's chest as he pouted up at him, hazel eyes widening innocently.

"Aw, do I _have_ to?" The quiet whine was as much teasing as it was earnest. It was at that moment that Martha Wayne walked forward quietly, heels tapping on the floor in a way that demanded attention. Both of them looked over to her automatically, the tall, beautiful woman who gave them both a look before examining her son.

"I believe that Superman always fixes his messes." His smile was instant and Bruce straightened up automatically, saluting her proudly, too large blue pajamas flopping over his hands and feet before removing the red sheet tied around his neck.

"Here you go, Alfred, would you like for me to get all the pillows?" He asked, holding the sheet out to the stoic butler.

"That would be wonderful, Master Bruce."

Martha traded a brief look with the elderly man, before holding out a pearl necklace to him, turning around as he placed it around her neck.

"How does it look Alfred?" She asked, the red dress perfectly framing her elegant form, the skirt fanning out slightly as she spun.

"As lovely as ever."

"Thank you. You think Thomas will like it?"

"Honestly, and if you don't mind me saying so, if he does not like it, then I believe he should have his vision checked." The words stated in his usual elegant fashion made her giggle.

"Thank you, Alfred; your input is, as always, appreciated. I have to go now, Bruce."

"Do you have to, Mommy?"

"Oh, Bruce, you know I do. I'm sorry that I have to go so early, but I promise I'll be home later tonight." Martha watched as the small boy seemed to deflate slowly, before brightening.

"Alright, Mommy, have fun." He smiled up at her then, and she smiled in turn, a tug on her heart reminding her to make sure to spend more time with him later. It really wasn't fair to their son. Gotham needed to be kicked into gear, but not at the expense of her son's happiness… She would have to speak to Thomas about it.

"I will."

With a kiss on her son's cheek, she left them alone, off into the world of parties and charities that a philanthropist was expected to attend, but her heart wasn't in it. It hadn't been in it for a while.

Gotham was decaying and as hard as she tried to kick the high society minds into gear, it never seemed to happen.

The five year old boy looked up at the man standing there in his neat suit and bowtie and offered up the pillows he had gathered. "Here you go, Alfred."

"Thank you, sir. If you give me a moment I shall finish making this bed and then I shall make you breakfast."

Bruce waited quietly, mind a million miles away, his head lowered and his mouth in a small frown.

"Sir, is there something wrong?" Alfred didn't watch the boy as he plumped the pillows and spread the blanket on the bed neatly, tucking in the corners. He had learned that Bruce did not often wish to speak about what he was feeling. When it came to himself he was a quiet boy, often internalizing himself and refusing to say a word about whatever it was that was bothering him. He had also learned that sometimes the best way to pry something out of him was to offer a question, and then leave him alone.

Alfred watched out of the corner of his eye as Bruce hesitated, remaining quiet for a moment, his mouth squiggling at the corners as he fought with whatever it was he wanted to say. For a moment he thought he had him, until the fight in his eyes vanished and hazel eyes turned up to look at him with a pleading expression. "I can't be Superman without a cape, Alfred; can you help me find another one?"

The butler refrained from prying more into the real reasons behind the young master's distress and answered calmly. "Only after your breakfast, young sir, and then, only after you have changed your clothes."

"Oh, alriiight…" he whined, stamping his foot once in a rare display of sarcastic temper and ran off to change.

There were times when he was such a quiet boy.

Alfred often wished that he wasn't.

…..

Bruce entered the kitchen happily, walking up to the marble counter in the center of the room, and the stool stationed under it with the familiarity of one who did so often. Shoving the stool back he climbed up, just as Alfred placed a bowl of cereal, a glass of orange juice, and a grapefruit in front of him.

"Thank you, Alfred." Bruce beamed up at him then frowned down at the grapefruit. A moment later a sprinkling of sugar coated the top of it and the wide smile was back. He had been about to reach for the sugar, but the Butler was always ahead of him.

"My pleasure, sir."

He munched his breakfast contentedly, Alfred moving around the kitchen with an ease that spoke of endless familiarity. For a while, neither of them said a word, Alfred content to wash the dishes and straighten the kitchen in peace, Bruce too busy with his breakfast. A moment later and Alfred gave a brief noise of recognition. The television in the corner was flicked on and turned to the news, the knowledge that the fight from last night would still be the talk of the morning. Sure enough, Superman was televised for the world to see, fighting against the recent villain as Lois Lane reported.

Bruce ate his breakfast at first with studious calm and focus. As the fight went on, reporters discussing it calmly he continued to lean forward. By the time a minute had passed, he was leaning forward, spoon hanging from his mouth forgotten, hazel eyes wide, and a smile pulling up a corner of his mouth. Alfred paused in his washing of the dishes, turned and examined the small boy quietly for a moment, before plucking the spoon from his mouth and cleaning up the boy's breakfast dishes.

A loud "Whoop!" nearly made him drop them. Bruce punched the air in joy, miming the blow that sent the villain of the week (in this case, someone that would likely destroy the entire Earth if left alone) to the ground, a crater opening up under him. Alfred recovered as easily as though he had never fumbled, calmly finishing the washing of the dishes before smiling over at the young man who had finally jumped from his stool and was doing a victory lap around the kitchen.

"Well, someone's excited; I didn't know you liked my company _that_ much…"

Alfred looked up to meet the smile of a girl who was often in the manor lately, fourteen years old with brown hair and a pair of beautiful brown eyes, Rachel Dawes. She was the baby sitter/playmate that the Waynes often hired. Her mother worked in the manor and she herself would help the family when summer came. She enjoyed hanging out with the boy a lot; he was smarter and more controlled than most in his age group. This was one of the reasons he had so little friends, but the money was definitely another reason. Even among the private school students, the Wayne family name was legendary. When Alfred had work to do and Bruce needed to be taken through the grounds she would pop up. She was trustworthy, friendly, and someone Bruce adored.

The small boy froze, whirled around and grinned at her before moving over to give her a tight hug, one she returned easily. "Superman won!"

"Of course he did, shorty, he always wins!" Rachel laughed, smiling at him and ruffling his hair. "So, do you want to come with me? I found something neat in the garden…"

Bruce paused and then nodded vigorously, following after her hurriedly, brown trouser-covered legs pumping to reach her longer strides. She led him to one of the garden patches, smiling at him and crouching down to point it out. An arrowhead, old, obviously just uncovered, and the fourteen year old girl grinned at him widely. A moment later, before Bruce could truly examine it closely, a hand shot out and she ran away laughing, the arrowhead clutched tightly in her hand.

"Finders keepers!" She giggled, oftentimes the only way to get the younger one out of his shell was to basically shove him out and Rachel was quite willing to do it.

"_Hey_!" Bruce shouted out, running after her quickly, chasing her through the vast gardens and into the nearby greenhouse, looking around for her everywhere. The cluttered area was filled with all sorts of plants, pots, and various gardening equipment on tables. But there was no sign of Rachel. He listened closely, finally hearing the clatter of something from under one of the rickety tables. He hurriedly ran to it, crouching down to look at her.

"Rachel, let me see!"

"Alright…" She held it out for him, only to have it be snatched from her hand, her earlier words tossed in her face as he ran as fast as he could away from her. Rachel followed, yelling: "You sneak," after his retreating back. He was honestly a lot faster than he looked, Rachel admitted to herself quietly, trying to catch up to him. He turned a corner, vanishing from sight for a moment.

Bruce had found a place to hide, scrambling up behind rocks as he peaked over them. He failed to notice the rotting boards under him. The wood crumbled underneath him and Bruce had a moment of shock, before he was falling, down, down, down into the dark. He landed with a thud, a white-hot poker of pain stabbing up his arm, his mind going blank.

His thoughts were muddled, his rocky and damp surroundings barely registered, the only light coming from the well opening above him. He could barely hear the sound of Rachel shouting his name. He called up to her, telling her to go get Alfred, and then she was gone, leaving him alone in the dark.

He didn't know how long he was down there before he heard it. Bruce slowly looked to the side, staring into the dark, his eyes adjusting to the lack of light slowly. He could feel a breeze coming he noticed, even as his body tensed and his palms began to sweat, his breath slowly starting to catch in his throat. There was an opening in the rock right next to him, and something was coming. Something was coming and he didn't know what it was, but he could hear it, rustling and chattering.

Next thing he knew he was surrounded. Winged something's burst out from the crevice, their wild attempts to get out and away from what had disturbed them translating to panic. Bruce didn't know what was happening; all he knew was that they were _everywhere_. They were in his hair, brushing up against his arms as he tried to keep them away from his face. Teeth, claws, leathery wings, all things that would haunt his nightmares, and as they continued to pour forth into the light, Bruce fell back into the dark.

He didn't know how long he was lying there, unable to move and unable to truly process what was happening, before he heard something else. Bruce looked up into the worried face of someone unexpected. Thomas Wayne had rappelled into the abandoned well and was currently locked in place.

"Bruce…" he said softly, "It's going to be okay." He reached out, his son gripping his hand with his good arm, relief and happiness flooding through him.

"It's going to be okay," was repeated as he was pulled up to his father's warm chest and they were hoisted out of the well. Thomas carried his son to the manor, Alfred constantly by his side as they walked silently. Rachel and her mother were waiting for them, Rachel in tears as she looked at the boy she was supposed to take care of.

"I'm so sorry, Mister Wayne… I'm so sorry…"

"Don't worry, it's fine." Thomas looked at her quietly, his eyes conveying he would talk to her later, but he understood. There were many things in the manor and the grounds, many, many places to get hurt. Bruce would be fine.

As they passed, Rachel felt something pressed into her hand, when she looked she saw it was the arrowhead that had started the whole mess to begin with.

They were passed as Bruce was carried into the manor, Alfred quietly commenting, "Took a nasty fall, didn't we, Master Bruce?"

"Yes, and why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up." His father's words were accompanied by a smile, and Bruce relaxed.

When Martha Wayne arrived a few minutes later and hurriedly inquired as to how her son was doing, Bruce Wayne couldn't have been happier. Yet as the night came and he lay in bed sleeping, images of bats came swarming into his mind, and sent him bolt upright in panic. These nightmares were slowly turning into a regular occurrence. Yet as each possible nightmare loomed in his future, Bruce would smile, curl up slightly and almost wish the nightmares to come, for whenever they did, his father would always be there.


	2. Doesn't

Sunlight peeped through the curtains, illuminating a child's bedroom. The room was clean, in the manner of a child, the floor kept tidy, while objects decorated a desk and other flat surfaces, scattered over the top. The walls were plastered with images of a hero, newspaper clippings, posters, anything that included the Man of Steel, Superman.

At the moment the occupant of the room was curled up in sleep, a black tuft of hair sticking up through the blankets cocooned around him. He curled slightly in his sleep, finally rolling over entirely. A small nose wrinkled, a forehead following suit, before finally hazel eyes opened in defeat. They blinked once, twice, a yawn and a brief stretch and he lay there quietly, looking up at the ceiling.

There was something special about today…something wonderful…

_It's my birthday. _The thought caused a small form to jolt upright in bed, a wide beaming smile spreading across his mouth. Bruce kicked away the blankets, jumping out of bed hurriedly, stumbling over the sheets wrapped around his ankles, but managed to continue running out the door.

Elsewhere in the manor, two forms relaxed in bed comfortably, curled up to one another. As the sound of small pounding feet got closer, a woman sighed, grinning as her husband gave her a brief peck on the forehead.

"Well, here he comes."

"We really should have woken him up, surprised him…"

"He's a growing boy, he needs his rest, and besides, we'll have plenty of time with him later."

"You think he'll like the arrangement?"

"I'm sure he'll be thrilled."

Their conversation was interrupted by a door being thrown open, a widely smiling black-haired boy in blue pajamas grinning at them both for all of a moment before making a running leap onto the bed with them. He frowned a little at the lack of reaction, his parents having lain back down before he had truly opened the door, their eyes closed as they pretended to be asleep. It was a long-standing tradition to pretend not to know when their son's birthday was. Needless to say, Bruce was never very pleased.

"Wake up!" He shoved at his dad's shoulder, pouting in annoyance. He pushed at his mom's shoulder then, only to jolt back with a giggle as a finger jabbed him in the side gently. He glared at his dad, only to be poked on the other side by his mom. A moment later and a full-blown tickle attack had started, Bruce giggling loudly as they tickled him mercilessly.

"P-Please!" He managed to squeak out between giggles, "St-stop!"

"Oh, alright…" Thomas said finally, grinning down at his son.

"Now, what brings you in here so early?" Martha asked him, a look of mock confusion on her face. "Shouldn't you still be sleeping? You are a growing boy, you know."

"Aw, come on, you know why!" Bruce pouted at them, crossing his arms in front of his chest defensively.

"No…don't really think I do." Thomas raised an eyebrow, looking at his wife in consideration. "Do you know what he's talking about, Martha?"

"I have no idea, Thomas." Martha hid her smile under a hand that was placed to her mouth in consideration.

"But it's my birthday!" Bruce exploded out, shaking his fists above his head.

"Your birthday?" the two of them asked as one, looking at each other in shock.

"No, that can't be right; your birthday isn't for another month at least…" Thomas stated, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Nooo, it's today!"

"Are you sure?" Martha asked.

"Yes!"

"Really, _really _sure?" Thomas pressed.

"Yeeeeesss!" Bruce finally half-hissed, half-screamed at them, his parents burst out laughing, enveloping him in a tight hug.

"Happy Birthday, Bruce. Come on, I'm sure Alfred's made something special."

It was good enough for Bruce Wayne, and the newly turned six-year-old ran after them, his father putting him up on his shoulders as he let out a happy shout. Alfred had done more than 'make something special', at least in Bruce's eyes. All his favorite breakfast foods spread out in front of him a banner over their heads proclaiming 'Happy Sixth Birthday, Bruce' and various balloons were scattered across the kitchen ceiling.

Alfred smiled and gave a quiet, "Happy Birthday." Bruce hugged him and his parents happily. Alfred's relationship with the Waynes was close. He had been working for them before Bruce had been born, and he could remember the child as an infant fondly. They were not just Master and Servant, they were also friends. They finished breakfast together, although Alfred remained in the corner, too proper to impose, asking Bruce what he would like to do next.

"You haven't invited any of your friends?"

The question caught the two of them off guard, looking at their son with confusion. "No, this is your day, Bruce; we were planning on doing something together."

"You're not busy?"

"No, Bruce, we're not. We were planning on spending the rest of the day with you."

"…Really?"

The realization of just how little time they had been spending with him, even though a part of them had known already, caused an instantaneous reaction. One moment a small boy had been staring at them in hopeful disbelief, the next he was engulfed in a warm hug on both sides.

"Bruce, no, we're going to spend the entire day with you."

"Actually, we were going to wait to give you your present, but…"

Thomas held up three tickets, giving him a small smile. "We were hoping you'd come with us, Bruce. You're old enough now that we feel that you would be able to appreciate it more. In fact, we were hoping that you'd agree to go with your mom and I to most of our gatherings. Now, I'll be the first to admit that it isn't always fun, but…"

A small black haired boy threw himself into his chest, belting out a loud, "You mean it? I can go with you? Oh please, I want to go with you, thank you! Thank you so much!"

"I promise, Bruce, you'll be going with us from now on. Now, what do you want to do? We have to leave rather late for the opera, but we can do plenty of other things before then."

So started what seemed like the best day ever, with the promise of plenty more wonderful days to follow. They got him ice cream, took him to the zoo, and while the reporters and various people converged, Bruce was too happy to care. He held onto his mother's hand the entire time. There was so much that he wanted to do with them.

Bruce was dressed up in a neat little suit, much like his parents were, blazing with excitement as he asked about the train they were on; listening with awe to all he was told. He was so excited. His parents were proud of him, the quiet courteous boy that should by all rights be causing havoc, giggling and excited. He was quiet though, understanding that his age and ability to sit still was one of the reasons his parents had been so hesitant to take him with them. But tonight they were going to the opera. Tonight, Bruce would learn what it would be like to attend some of the gatherings his parents went to.

Bruce could barely contain his excitement, listening to the music, watching the actors on the stage. A part of him found it confusing and chaotic, he had never seen anything like it before, yet it was fascinating as well. The opera was dark, a small part of him knowing that he would find it difficult to sleep that night, yet he was way too excited to care. But then _they_ came.

Crawling, twirling, the man in front of them spreading his arms out as he belted out the powerful notes… They reminded him of something, something dark and terrifying, something that was hiding in the dark, waiting to get him and pull him into the darkness. And then he was there, surrounded by bats attempting to escape, and his heart pounded as his palms turned sweaty and his breath caught. He looked to his dad, a whispered: "Can we go?" asked as his father looked at him, seeming to ask what was wrong with him with his eyes.

Thomas seemed to realize exactly what was causing it finally, looking into terrified eyes, remembering the nightmares that his son was haunted by, remembering the fear. "Alright…" He caught his wife's attention and the three of them left. Bruce happy to leave the fear behind, while still upset that he had made them leave the opera that they seemed to enjoy so much. Bruce looked up at his parents as they exited the building, apology written across his face.

"What's wrong, Bruce?" Martha asked him, looking down at her child in concern.

"Oh, no, no, it was me. I just needed some fresh air." Thomas walked down the stairs into the alley with them, helping his wife into her coat. "A little opera goes a long way, right Bruce?"

His son, grateful for the save, nodded, a part of him still apologetic, worried that they wouldn't let him continue to go with them now that he proved that he was still too little. They started walking down the narrow alley to where their car was, ignoring the man that was approaching from the shadows. By the time they realized what the man was after, it was too late.

Hazel eyes stared up at the man before him, his small body wracked with tremors as he clutched to his parents hands. Light flashed crazily as the hand that held a gun towards the small family trembled. Bruce Wayne stared up at the unshaven man with straw yellow hair, barely comprehending as the man demanded money and jewelry.

He barely heard his father calmly and easily hand his wallet over, only to drop it, the man panicking the longer the gun was pointed at the family. His own thoughts were slowly wrapping themselves into a repetition of _'Scream, you have to scream, you know you have to scream, just scream…he said he'd come, he said he'd come…'_ He was clutching the scarf with the Superman symbol on it tightly to his chest, eyes large and terrified. The man turned the gun on his mother, demanding jewelry as well, his focus on the pearls gracing his mother's neck. Bruce's breath was catching in his throat, rasping, hurting, terror overwhelming his senses, unable to muster up the breath or the will-power to scream.

Thomas said something, lurching in front of his wife, aiming to protect her with his body. He did just that, the crack of the gun in trembling hands corresponding with a man falling to the waiting ground, his wife screaming and dropping down next to him. A hand flashed out, gripping the pearls and tearing a small amount away before another crack followed, and all that Bruce had known was gone.

Hazel met blue, the gun pointing at him now, and he desperately wished and hoped for yet another crack to split the night, to join his parents. He watched as the man slowly focused on the scarf around his neck, noticing the way small hands clutched it, a slow, trembling and terrified, yet ugly smirk spreading across his features.

"Don't you know, kid? Superman doesn't come to Gotham."

Yet as something further crumbled in the young boy's heart, eyes staring up at the man before him, fear and desperation and hope - _hope that the gun would shoot and he would follow into the blackness that waits, please pleasepleaseplease -_ combining to make a painful mess that cut his chest, the man couldn't take it. The eyes that were boring into his soul bringing everything into sharp relief. He ran. Bruce slowly looked down at his parents, the hope broken to shards, staring at the red pooling around them into congealing puddles, and fell to his knees, the shards cutting into his chest and leaving scars that would never heal, guilt, and loss combining in his chest.

He didn't know how long it was until the sirens split the night, neither did the officers that rounded the corner into the alley. They turned the corner to find a small boy huddled in between the bodies of his parents, hazel eyes staring unseeingly, blood coating his pant legs and hands. They knew them on sight and the only thought that crashed through their minds was how far Gotham had sunk that the family in front of them was the one that was destroyed.

They lifted him away from their bodies, almost horrified to find that the boy's hand was clasped around his mothers, red painted pearls spilling from their hands like raindrops as they finally managed to separate them. He was cradled to an unfamiliar chest, words unheard as they washed over him, even as his mind was thousands of miles away, wondering why his hero hadn't rescued them.

He was left alone in a room with glass walls, cameras flashing as they had when he was led from the police car, officers trying to make them keep their distance. His fingers clutched tightly to the coat in his hands, the one that an officer had given him. His father's coat. A coat that was too large for him and one that his father would never wear again.

He hadn't managed to keep a single pearl.

Bruce sat there silently barely moving from that one spot perched on a chair next to a large and overflowing desk. When the door opened Bruce hardly noticed, what he did notice was the man that crouched down in front of him. The blue of his police uniform did nothing to relax the boy, his hold on the jacket tightening. Hazel and brown met before the brown flickered away, unable to stare into the broken eyes in front of him. They instead landed the jacket clutched so tightly and finally words were spoken.

"Is this your father's?" he asked, reaching out to take it. Bruce reacted by pulling it closer to him, only for the man in front of him to smile, meeting his eyes once again, ready this time, as he offered two words of comfort.

"It's okay."

The man reached out and Bruce allowed the jacket to be taken from his grasp as he spoke again, a quiet, "come here," before the jacket was placed around his shoulders. He felt a hand touch his cheek in a way similar to the way his father had, slowly tilting his head up to look into brown eyes again as once again two words were spoken. His father's words, his father's touch…

"It's okay."

"It's my birthday…" The sound of his own voice surprised him. He hadn't meant to say anything. He promised himself he wouldn't say anything. He didn't _deserve_ to say anything.

The man almost recoiled, his heart lurching in his chest as he stared at the small broken boy before him.

The door opened again, this time letting another man walk in. Bruce looked up as the man called out, "Gordon," the man in front of him finally receiving a name. Gordon looked back at him once and then walked out. The large dark skinned man walked forward, offering him a smile, the many medals decorating him identifying him as the Commissioner.

"Good news, we found him."

It was all his fault, his parents were dead, Superman hadn't come…and here the man called it 'good news'. Yet he couldn't say anything.

When Alfred came to pick him up, blue eyes meeting the lost eyes of the boy in front of him, Bruce could only follow the man dumbly. It was then that he heard something, something that made him focus on the two officers standing together quietly talking together.

"…Calls himself a hero, big whoop, Gotham is going to hell in a hand basket and the man doesn't care."

"Yeah, Metropolis has Superman; Gotham has a useless Green Lantern. Can't even save a boy from watching his parents get shot right in front of him."

"Yeah, but at least it was this boy that had it happen to him."

"Probably gets to go home and cry into a pile of money."

Bruce froze in place, even as Gordon once again took charge, calling both men to task, even as Alfred took hold of his shoulder, leading him away. The damage had been done. The words lodged in his head, yet his voice remained silent, the simple sentences joining the echoes of the gunshots and the trickle of his mother's pearls, no matter what Alfred said to counter it.

Bruce followed Alfred to the car, clutching his father's jacket to him more on reflex than anything else. The door was opened for him and he entered silently.

He remained silent until after the funeral, that single sentence long forgotten to all but one.

Alfred entered the room that had once been decorated with various Superman posters to find a torn up red, yellow, and blue mess with a small child standing in the midst of it. He looked up at him, shattered eyes speaking volumes, and his voice finally doing the same.

"It was my fault, Alfred; I made them leave the theater… If I hadn't gotten scared…" _If I had only screamed_. The elderly butler was protesting before he had even finished speaking, walking towards the boy, ignoring the shredded posters. A finger was placed under a small chin, raising those eyes to stare up into his own.

"It was nothing that you did, it was him, and him alone." Alfred stood in front of the boy, offering whatever comfort he felt he could give. "Do you understand?" He finally asked watching as the boy finally broke down, walking forward and clutching to his waist.

"I miss them Alfred, I miss them so much."

"So do I, Master Bruce, so do I." He held onto the small form as tight as he dared, hoping and pleading that the tears would be the release the boy so desperately needed, that the loss wouldn't strangle him.

"Why couldn't he save them? Were we so unimportant to him? Why didn't he come?" _Even if he couldn't hear me…_ The real question was asked, Alfred knowing precisely what 'him' Bruce was talking about. A tear-stained face looked up at him, fury and despair fighting for dominance.

"Superman… Superman, regardless of how powerful he seems and how much he sees cannot be everywhere at once. He is but one man, one that does not typically come to Gotham. I do not know why he does not, nor do I know why the other heroes also choose to shun our city. But I do know that he does his best for his city and the world when he can. I am so sorry, young Master that you had to learn that your hero was not perfect in such a dreadful manner, but I'm afraid that heroes never are. This does not mean that he is bad, nor does it mean he is evil, it merely means he's…'human,' he is _flawed_. I am so sorry he could not save them… I am so sorry he wasn't perfect." Alfred hugged him tightly, Bruce letting the words run through his mind, drumming their way into his heart to rest with something else. Something heavy, something that made him choke.

Alfred took him downstairs for supper, a supper that went mostly uneaten, a supper that was soon filled with silence as he was finally handed a cup of tea. Yet even as Bruce slowly sipped the warm drink, sitting at the counter where he had cheered his hero on days before, his mind was whirring. Superman hadn't come. Gotham had its own hero and he never came…did anyone care? Where were these people who supposedly fought for truth and justice, why had they never come? He thought they were supposed to be _heroes_. He thought they were supposed to care. Why wasn't Gotham worth it?

Later that night, after Alfred had tucked him in, the butler found the scarf that Bruce had been wearing thrown into a corner, shredded to bits. He cleared the room out slowly, removing the shredded dreams of little boys with every scrap of paper and cloth, everything in him begging that things would turn out alright.


	3. Come

Alfred knew that others would like to believe that after so many weeks they would be used to the nightmares, be used to the thrashing and the tears, but he himself would always hope that he would never be used to them. Bruce never screamed, the nightmares silent things that ate into Alfred's soul, never certain when his young charge was having them, but he never wanted to be used to the nights that were spent awake, sitting next to a bed as the occupant tried to go back to sleep. He never wanted them to become routine. A newly turned six-year-old boy did not deserve for the nightmares that plagued him to become just another thing he had to do. Not when those nightmares were caused by something that shattered a little boy's world to pieces. He never talked about them, never made any indication that he was aware his nights were spent in tears. He never screamed. Never once had Alfred heard him scream. He wished he would talk, wished he would make a sound, but after that one day he hadn't spoken about his parents or his fears at all.

Bruce no longer asked to watch the news. He no longer pretended to fly or shoot lasers from his eyes. He never asked for Alfred to make him a cape. While there were other things that Alfred could worry about, it was these developments that truly showed how much the young boy had changed. It was the lack of any voice calling out to him and telling him to stop, the complete emptiness the manor now seemed to have that was the root-cause he suspected. While it was true that his family had gone out often, when they were home the manor turned into one of the happiest places Alfred had ever been in. Now it was quiet all the time and it leant to it the general feeling that they would enter the house any moment.

As time wore on Bruce's hatred seemed to grow, towards the man who had caused his pain, but mainly towards the new superheroes that came. They never entered Gotham. None of them seemed to care about the state of a city that was in shambles as the death of the Waynes led to even more corruption. It seemed as though the Waynes had been the only thing holding Gotham back from the pit that it was slowly turning into. Yet as bad as it got, there was never a hero to rise up from the ashes. So Bruce seemed to crumble, falling deeper into a hatred of the costumed heroes who supposedly saved the world. There was one thing in particular that Alfred most definitely did not want to happen due to his young ward's hatred.

While Bruce didn't watch the news anymore, Alfred did, and he was perfectly aware of the existence of supervillains. He often despaired of the idea of someone he was slowly starting to see as his son becoming one of those. If Bruce did fall, Alfred Pennyworth was certain of one thing, Lex Luthor would need to get a new target. Alfred was quiet though, and promised to himself that he would always be there for his ward, no matter what happened.

Rachel came as often as she could, trying to find a hint of the boy he had been. He seemed to have retreated into himself. Yet he was always polite, always ready to help should any of them ask, and seemed to genuinely worry about people. It was one of the saddest moments of her life when a six year old boy had looked up at her and asked if she would be leaving him as well. She had broken down at that question, shortly followed by Bruce himself, the both of them hugging each other for all they were worth. Alfred had found them like that, listened to the reason through Rachel's choked sobs, and found himself on his knees with his arms wrapped around both of them without the slightest idea of how he got there.

Weeks and weeks of wasted therapy, all trying to get a small boy to finally cry and open up, and the girl who was like a sister to the lad did it in a single afternoon. When the question was turned on him, Alfred forgot all attempts to stay baffled and as impersonal as he could be. He tilted the small boy's head up and looked directly into eyes that were too big and too mature for his face, and, with a smile that barely hid the tears, gave him an answer: "Never, for as long as I am able, I won't leave you, Master Bruce, and that's a promise."

It wasn't until later that he thought that the promise might not have been the best thing to make. The future wasn't set in stone and it was always possible that something could drag them apart. He refused to go without a fight though, that much was certain.

Bruce seemed to finally move past whatever had kept him so quiet and had started to explain some of the nightmares and the things that he saw in them. Alfred took him out, spent time working on helping the boy live a semi-normal life. Every need the boy had was provided for him and slowly Bruce seemed to be moving on. The first few months were painful, but he learned, and he felt that Bruce did as well. But what he wasn't expecting was just how much he learned. Alfred had known that the boy was smart, but he wasn't prepared for the grades that came.

Alfred also most definitely was not prepared for the steady recommendations for Bruce to skip grades. He was proud of the young master and made sure to let him know. Bruce seemed to bask in the quiet acknowledgement, smiling slightly for the first time he had seen in a long while. It was then that something else began happening that worried him. Bruce seemed to retreat again. The therapists had warned him that such a thing was possible, but what he hadn't been expecting was for how suddenly it had happened.

He had allowed the boy to progress, unable to find a decent reason to hold him back when it was obvious that he needed more of a challenge, and for a while he had seemed happy…like everything else, it had faded. He was quieter than ever. Bruce didn't say much to begin with, so this was noticeable to a degree he had never expected. Alfred did whatever he could to try and make the boy open up, asking what was wrong. Bruce never responded and in turn Alfred never stopped asking.

It wasn't until he placed a hand on a small shoulder that he began to get an answer. Bruce flinched back at the touch, genuine pain flashing across his face while Alfred hurriedly crouched down next to him. "Sir, what happened? Are you injured?"

Bruce backed away from him, hazel eyes filled with worry and fear. "No! It's nothing, please…"

"It most certainly is not 'nothing', what has happened? Let me see, please." Alfred was worried, truly and deeply, concerned as to why the young boy was acting in such a manner.

"Please, there's nothing wrong. I fell out of a tree, I'm sorry…"

Alfred didn't buy it, and the small boy seemed to realize that, eyes widening as he looked at the man in front of him in worry. "Let me see, Master Bruce, I'm certain everything will be fine if you just let me see."

He managed to peel the shirt back and froze. Bruises and angry looking cuts were revealed and he felt his heart stop. "Who did this to you?"

"I'm sorry! I promise I'll do better, I'll run, I'll call for help, I'm sorry! Don't send me away!" He never asked for help. He couldn't ask for help.

Alfred was confused, worried, and reached out, gently touching his cheek, looking at him closely. "Why would I do that?"

"They said, they said that I was just a burden, that I was just some weak little baby that needed help. They said that you would get tired of me, that I would be sent away. They said…I didn't belong there; that I was some Butler's son and shouldn't go to school with them! They hate me! They said that if you found out…that you'd hate me, too, that you'd send me away because I was too much trouble. _Please_, don't send me away… I want to stay with you; I want to stay here, please!" He was sobbing, his words turning to incoherent mumblings as Alfred gathered him into a tight hug, quietly promising that they were wrong. That whoever they were, they would be seriously punished for what they had done to his ward, Butler or no.

"I will never send you away and I will always be there should you need me. You are not a burden. I promise I will never send you away. You are not a freak, you are not a baby, you are a young man who has been through a terrible ordeal, and if they had been through the same they would act the same way. Master Bruce, you are fine. You are _fine_. Now please, let me bandage these cuts."

Alfred was as good as his word and Bruce slowly began talking again, something that had been hiding in the back of his mind brought to full light through something that should never have happened. The butler went one better as well and stuck him into self-defense classes, something that Bruce took to with a joy that was almost unmatched.

He was always practicing those classes and routines, Alfred thought to himself quietly. It was getting to the point where the boy was beyond capable of defending himself. His teachers in those classes were as impressed as the teachers in his regular classes. Alfred could understand that. He was often impressed himself. Even at six he was slowly developing a routine for himself. It was still a long way to go, but he seemed happier and there was no longer any trouble from bullies.

…

A year without his parents was coming to a close and Alfred still didn't know what to give him for his birthday. No matter what he considered he could see the potential problems. So many things could go wrong on what was supposed to be nothing more than the most special of days. Only now it was forever darkened by something that would always cast a shadow over more than just a birthday.

A knock on the door made Alfred slowly come up from his musings, moving over to open it from where he had been busy dusting the numerous priceless objects taking over the main hall. Bruce often followed him during his cleaning, spreading his books on the floor as he did his homework. While he was often a very quiet boy, he seemed to hate the quiet, hating to be alone more than anything else. Alfred had indulged him as long as he didn't get in the way. As the young boy scrambled to hide his books, remembering that Alfred liked to attempt to have everything neat, the butler thought that it might be something he shouldn't do anymore. Especially if cramming his papers into the textbooks was the best way he had to hide them.

The door swung open to reveal a brown haired man with a moustache and glasses, an apologetic look on his face and a neat, if inexpensive brown suit clothing him. Bruce knew him on sight, but Alfred was a bit at a loss.

"Gordon." The sudden statement brought both of them to a stop, Alfred mid-inquiry, Gordon mid-offer of a handshake and an apology. The man turned, looking at the young boy in shock, blinking at him before offering a slight smile.

"Yes, I'm Gordon, Jim Gordon really," the man introduced himself for Alfred's benefit mainly, giving him a slight smile, and clearing his throat. "I'm sorry for coming here unannounced, especially when you don't know me, but…"

"It's quite obvious the young master does, sir. I suspect I know why. He has talked of you to me often."

"…He has?" Whatever the rookie cop had expected, it was not that.

"Yes, I believe you were the man who wrapped him in his father's coat?"

"…Yes, I was, I thought…"

"Thank you, I have often regretted not being able to get there sooner. You helped more than you know." He offered his hand, Gordon grasping it immediately, a part of him shocked, a part of him beyond thankful, a smile slowly curling his mouth.

"I am still here you know…" The soft voice of the child behind them made the two men turn to regard him. He didn't pout or frown, didn't look particularly irritated at all, but there was a light in his eyes that Alfred hadn't seen in a while.

Gordon turned his smile to him, "My apologies, Mister Wayne…" Bruce's mouth pinched slightly at the title and Jim hesitated. "I'm sorry. Mister Wayne was your father, right?" Bruce gave a slow nod, the cop sighing before once again crouching down to his level. "Right, do you have anything in particular you'd like for me to call you?"

The boy seemed to think, looking up at Alfred in a moment of question before finally meeting his eyes. "Would it be alright for you to call me Bruce?"

Gordon smiled. "I don't see why not."

"Thank you."

"So, I…came here to see how you were. It's been a while, but I…" He cleared his throat and sighed. "This is just as awkward as I thought it would be."

Bruce smiled, it was small but it was real. The sight was startling and Gordon looked at him in surprise. Alfred's small sound of shock was registered, the cop looking up to face him before looking down at Bruce, a small smile spreading. "But I suppose it was worth it, sir. Would you like to come in? I must apologize for being so rude, but you caught us off guard." Alfred was quick to take the situation in hand.

"I'd like to, really. From what I'm seeing the manor must be an amazing place, but my boss is going to kick my behind if I stay too long. He already is going to kick my behind." Gordon laughed slightly. "I'm sorry, but thank you. I…honestly just came here to give you this… I know I probably shouldn't have, but…after what you said, and everything… It's probably never going to be the same; they were missing some, but…"

"Do you think I cry into a pile of money?" The question was so sudden, so impulsive and uncertain that Gordon froze, his eyes widening behind his glasses as he stared down at him. Bruce knew what Alfred thought. He trusted Alfred, he remembered what Alfred had told him, but for some reason he had to hear it from someone else. He had to hear the truth. Gordon fumbled with the small box he had pulled from his coat, nearly letting it drop, before holding it tightly. There was such anger in his features Bruce nearly took a step back, yet managing to hold his ground.

"Those…" Gordon took a deep breath, taking hold of his emotions quickly and efficiently, staring down at the small boy. "You shouldn't listen to them. They're punks. They're stupid angry punks who think that the world runs on money. That happiness runs on money. You tell me, Bruce, do you think happiness comes with money?"

"No…I'd…I'd give everything if I could…if I could just…" Bruce stopped talking, tears trickling down his cheeks, staring at Gordon. Gordon hesitated before he handed the small box over to the boy quietly, everything about him hesitant and unsure.

"There was a man who hung back, gathering them up, I managed to get them from him and get it repaired. I can't bring back your parents, Bruce, God help me, I wish I could, but I can't. The only thing I can give you is this. I think…I think that you said it was today, if it's not, I'm sorry, but…Happy Birthday…"

Bruce was slowly opening it, the man's explanation something he could barely hear, his entire focus on the box in his hands as he slowly clicked it open. What he saw made the tears flow faster, before looking up at the man crouched in front of him, an expression of worry and hesitation on his face. Next moment he jerked back as a pair of arms was thrown around his neck, a small seven year old boy sobbing profusely into his shoulder as he hugged him tightly, his mother's pearls repaired and contained in the small box in his hand.

"Bruce, I want you to listen to me, I know you're young, I know that things like this have to be hard to understand for you. You're so young, you're so young and this should have never happened, but lying about it won't help. Nor will sugar coating it, so you listen to me close: men like that are crooks. You'll find people like them everywhere. They seek to rob you of who you are, belittle you, twist their promises with lies. They hurt and they love each and every second of it, do you know how you combat them, how you make it hurt less?" He held onto his shoulders, staring down into wide green eyes that seemed to hold an abundance of fear and loss. He hadn't noticed how green they could be.

Bruce shook his head, staring up at him.

"Be a better man."

Four little words, four little words sank into his heart and mind, twining their way into a seven-year-olds heart, and suddenly he knew what to do. The two older men watched as a smile spread across his face, a smile filled with purpose and drive.

Alfred couldn't believe his eyes, but a smile curled up his mouth. There was always hope he decided, always hope. Even if those hazel eyes remained dark, even when he grew older and turned into a quiet, bitter young man of fourteen years. Even when he ran away from Princeton, the college he was currently attending, vanishing into obscurity. Lucius Fox and Jim Gordon both visited him after that, each of them offering their own words of comfort, both of their words hollow.

It wasn't until the appeal hearing for Joe Chill that Bruce Wayne returned, and the bitter young man was shown to have turned into a man who held himself in constant control. He was still bitter, and he was still young, but he seemed to have found a purpose, seemed to have found something of a light. Alfred welcomed the change whole-heartedly, even though he constantly attempted to get the young man to return to college. Bruce refused, with smiles that seemed to hold more secrets than he could believe. His return was marked by more than just secrets.

Rachel Dawes had been worried, the younger brother she would never have returned to her someone she had missed dearly. As soon as she saw Bruce the young woman threw her arms around him, having driven to Wayne Manor as soon as she got the news. He reacted with a laugh, hugging her in return. She smiled at him and the smile slowly faded. "You just came back for the trial, didn't you?"

Bruce hesitated and finally nodded. "Yes, I'm going to be leaving again as soon as it's done."

"Will you keep in touch?"

He sighed and finally shook his head. "Where I'm going I don't think I'll be able to."

"So I'm going to go back to wondering if the man who's like a brother to me is alive or dead?" She asked the question with a raised eyebrow, the look on her face something somehow both sarcastic and accusing.

"I'm sorry, Rachel. I have to do this." He hugged her tightly, smiling in a way that was as tight as it was faked. "I promise, in the end it will be worth it."

"If you're sure."

"I am. I've never been surer of anything."

"Okay. Do you want me to take you to the court house?" The silent question of 'do you want someone with you' was ignored, yet somehow answered as well.

"Yes."

Bruce had told himself he was ready. That he could look at the man who had killed his parents without feeling the hatred that he had worked so hard to suppress. Yet as the man talked, lying through his teeth about feeling sorry about the people he had killed, Bruce felt the hatred trickling back to him. When the Judge asked if he would like to speak on behalf of the Wayne family, Bruce stood up, words strangling him as they rose in a fit of rage, he finally turned and left. Words were nothing. They were dead and useless. The hatred had come back.

His training wasn't done.


	4. To

Linda Park checked and double-checked her hair and makeup in a small pocket mirror that she was holding. The pretty reporter of Korean decent was going in for the big guns. It didn't help that two of the people in attendance were notorious for their liking of pretty women. Well…one was simple conjecture, the other was known fact. The courtyard in front of the recently finished hospital was flooded with people, all ready for the dedication. Bustling news reporters, officials, everyone, including two very special people were standing in front of the neat white building that stood, proudly overlooking the fountain in the middle of the square.

One of these special people was the hero for Keystone City who also took care of Central City in the next state over. That person was the Flash, a red and yellow speedster who had the title of Fastest Man Alive. The man was beaming and happy, shaking hands and talking to people, most of them that he knew by name. He was also very _genuine_, calling many smiles and laughs to people everywhere. His red mask with yellow wings coming off the sides was a familiar sight to see, bobbing amongst the crowd, the white lenses somehow friendly even if they were blank.

The other was a young man who was talking to the mayor of the city, a wide if not slightly vacant smile on his face. That man was Bruce Wayne and everything from his shoes to his tie screamed of money and lots of it. He had made a very large contribution to the hospital and had come to see it finished. Bruce Wayne was a different matter entirely. The man was known to be nearly made of money and had only recently returned from a long trip to God-knew-where. He had even been declared dead. His response to that was to leave Gotham yet again with the excuse that 'dying really takes it out of a man, I need a vacation.' No one knew where he had been, or what he had done, but from what they were slowly coming to believe, it had involved pretty women, whatever form of entertainment he could get, and alcohol.

That said, the man was charismatic, polite if not a bit ostentatious, and seemed to genuinely care about people. He had helped various places that he had visited across the states, a donation here, a charity there. He seemed to be perfectly willing to throw himself on the line and the media was beginning to love him. Gotham was also getting more possessive as time wore on.

After a while Linda made her move, Bruce was holding a champagne glass, and seemed to be between conversations. She adjusted her dress to hint at a bit more cleavage and finally walked up to him. She was going to get that interview and the truth. Where had the man been? What had he done?

"Bruce Wayne!" She called smiling at him, walking over in a way that was specially formulated to create interest. Bruce seemed to notice. He smiled at her; a smile that she would unfortunately have to admit was absolutely gorgeous. Everything about the man was gorgeous and she knew that this might not have been the best idea.

"Yes, Miss…" Bruce had turned his entire focus on her, his expression inviting her to fill in the blank with her name.

"Park, Linda Park." She smiled in turn, offering her hand which he kissed, putting the glass down on a stone ledge next to him. She was flattered and found herself trying desperately not to blush.

"Charmed, I'm sure you know who I am, yes?" The raised eyebrow and smirk he gave her was enough to show he was joking, but she decided to answer him anyway.

"Of course, you're Bruce Wayne; it was your donation that helped fund this hospital." She smiled at him, maybe if she didn't mention being a reporter he would talk more…

"Well, it wasn't my donation directly, I'm sure you know that I was out of the country?"

She hadn't expected for it to be this easy… "Yes, I had heard about that. They thought you were dead!" He laughed and she joined in to be polite, not quite certain why his supposed death would strike him as funny.

"Yes, well, I needed to get out, figure out a few things… But that's enough about me, what do you do, how do you like the fair Keystone City?"

Linda laughed, "I wouldn't exactly call it 'fair', Mr. Wayne." _So much for easy…_

"It's better than Gotham." The darkness his voice held for a moment startled her, and she blinked at him rather owlishly, surprised. He didn't hold it for very long and smiled at her in a way that almost made her forget the flash of something darker in him. "I'm sorry, I love my city, but it has its problems...and please, call me Bruce."

"Of course, Bruce, my apologies, but I can imagine about Gotham. So, was that why you left?"

"To escape from Gotham?" He paused, seemed to consider quietly and grinned. "Well, that's always possible, but there's also the possibility that I didn't find what I was looking for." He was leaning towards her slightly, nothing threatening, but something roguishly charming in his movements. She knew precisely what it was he was going to do and she found herself breathless at the thought, her eyes flicking towards lips that were begging to be kissed.

"And what were you looking for, Bruce?"

"Well, I might have found it…"

A moment later and a red and yellow blur formed in front of them, making Linda jerk back in surprise and a hint of guilt, and Wayne to blink and step back. He recovered quickly though, a smile spreading as he looked into the slightly frowning face of the Flash. "Um…I really am sorry to break this up, but Linda, really. What will that boyfriend of yours think if you let him kiss you?"

"Boyfriend?" Bruce asked, looking rather surprised as his smile faltered.

"Yes, Bruce, I do have a boyfriend, I'm sorry for leading you on like that, but…well…"

"I know, I have a pretty face." He grinned at her in a way that made her feel two inches tall.

"No, it's not that, really."

"It's fine, Linda, I was joking. You really should have told me, though. I would have hated to be the reason your relationship fell apart…" He raised an eyebrow at her and turned to look at the Flash. "Thank you for warning me. Knowing my luck her boyfriend could be twice my size." He grinned and offered his hand, which the Flash took, meeting his grin wholeheartedly.

"Nah, Wally's a nice guy. He's also dating an ace reporter, he knows the risks." Linda groaned, her cover blown. Now she had been dishonest in two ways and he knew it. This was just not her day.

Bruce nodded with a smirk. "I thought that was what she was. You'll have to forgive me, Linda; I've developed a bit of a sense for the reporters."

"No, it's fine; I really, really shouldn't have done that to you…"

"Hey, it's no harm done." He shrugged slightly and smiled at her as she left in something like shame. "So, you're the Flash. It's nice to meet you."

Flash laughed, "Yeah, that's me, and you're Bruce Wayne. I've been meaning to thank you for your contribution to the hospital."

"Hey it's no problem at all. We heard what happened to the last one and while it's true that Gotham isn't exactly known for its charities, we aren't totally heartless." He smiled, shaking the hand of the man before him as it was offered. "So, what's it like to be the Fastest Man Alive if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's great! I mean, really great. Helping people is wonderful, you know?"

"Yeah, I can understand that. I do have to admit to finding the people who dress up in tights to save the world to be a little crazy, but…"

"Hey, what's wrong with the tights? The chicks totally dig them! And aside from that, with my costume, I have to worry about wind resistance; skintight was the best way to deal with it!" More laughter.

"Yeah, I can see how that would be a problem, and don't get me wrong, I am certainly thankful for what you guys do."

"Hey, it's fine, I didn't think you were meaning to be anti-hero anyway. Besides, you're a bit of one yourself." The Flash grinned slightly, poking him in the shoulder.

"Oh? How do you figure that?"

"Well, you helped fund this hospital, when it's not even in your city I might add, have been raising money and awareness in every city you visit across the great US of A towards various charities… Yeah, I can totally see it, you're the Checkman! Everywhere you go whipping out a checkbook to help save millions of people with your crazy donations." The laughter that followed was amused and completely genuine.

"Hey, just so long as I don't have to wear the tights I'm perfectly fine with that." He smiled at him widely, the Flash's laughter an immediate response. "So, if you don't mind me asking, who around here is single and wouldn't mind the date with a pretty face?"

"Honestly? I can think of several women _with_ a date that would love it…and one in particular I would ask you to woo…"

"I'm not quite sure what you're getting at…"

"You see that woman over there?" Wally pointed covertly towards the woman in question, a homely yet somehow attractive woman that would be even more if she would straighten up and smile a little.

"Yes."

"Look, I know I shouldn't be asking you this, but I'm running out of options. Her husband…well…he's an abusive asshole. I've been trying desperately to try and get her to leave him, but she…"

"You want me to try and get her to realize that her worth is not based on that man but rather on her herself, and you think that another man is going to help her realize that?"

"Well…when you put it like that…no. What I was hoping for was the fact that you would talk to her without anyone telling you to and her realization that you had come to her would be what motivated her thought process… Yes, now I know you don't know her, and you have no reason to involve yourself, but…I mean, you did sign off on all those charities towards helping women in abusive homes, would you help?"

"Hey, it's no trouble. I think I won't mind her man trying to take a swing at me to be perfectly honest, especially if it leads to him being locked up for disreputable conduct."

"You read my mind and it would certainly help if the most eligible bachelor of the year is the one to try and hit on her."

"She'll need therapy…"

"I know, but I'm hoping this will be what finally tips it. She's been getting there slowly on her own, and I'm so very proud of her for it; I just think she needs a bit more of a push."

"Alright, wish me luck. Oh, and please, if he does try to hit me, if he goes for the face, do stop him, alright?"

The Flash laughed and nodded. He watched as the seeds were planted, as the alcoholic and abusive bastard came charging up towards the two of them with spit flying and language spilling from his lips that would curdle milk. Mister Wayne took a blow to the gut for a woman he didn't know and in turn the woman slapped her husband, too many years of abuse exploding in a single moment. The Flash subdued the man hurriedly, which barely took a second, trying desperately not to smile as she chewed the bastard up and spit him out with her words, helping Bruce upright and almost desperately trying to see if he was okay. She had tears in her eyes, a look of terror and freedom making her wild and somehow prettier than she had seemed before.

"Are you alright, I'm so sorry about him, I really am…"

"Hey, it's fine." Bruce gasped out, still clutching his middle protectively. "Besides, this is a hospital, I'm pretty sure they need patients, I'll volunteer to be the first one!"

The laughter was instantaneous, recognizing his smile and the way he straightened up to shake her hand as the man was led away. He gave her a small kiss on the cheek and shortly left. He had one last stop to make before he could leave Keystone City and head to Metropolis. From Metropolis he was going to Gotham. It wasn't long before he had what he had been planning on getting and he headed to the airport. As he was about to get on the private jet that had been waiting for him, a familiar red and yellow blur zooming towards him made him stop.

"Hey, you left without saying goodbye, a lot of people were worried, oh, and Geraldine, that was her name by the way, wanted to say thank you. So where you off to in such a hurry that you couldn't stay for the rest of the party?"

"Well, it's like you said, I'm the Checkman, I have to make sure to keep up appearances, so I'm headed over to Metropolis. I actually am more interested in their Paper, the Daily Planet. I bought it a while ago and figured I should finally visit. I'm sorry to leave so soon, but I really do want to get home. Metropolis is my last stop, you see, before I go back to Gotham, and it's been so long that I really do think I should go back. Give Geraldine my best, and tell the rest that I'm sorry I couldn't stay. Besides, I have to offer my fashion tips to Superman. Wearing your underwear over your pants just shouldn't be done." He waved, and walked off, leaving a howling Flash behind him. There were times when being a billionaire had its perks, being expected to have good fashion sense and the ego to give advice was one of them.  
>…<p>

The reception he received in Metropolis was greater than Keystone could ever have given him. His plane landed with a ridiculous amount of fanfare, reporters from not just the Daily Planet but every other news company in the city standing there. However, it was the people from the Daily Planet that he truly wished to see. There were only two of them that came to visit, but they were the only ones that were needed. Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Lois Lane was his target in particular. Aside from being gorgeous, with violet eyes and black hair and therefore someone the playboy fop he was acting as would immediately gravitate towards, she had connections to Superman.

There was a car waiting for him, a black stretch limo that he could honestly not wait to get into, but not before finding out what he was after.

"Mister Wayne, it's a pleasure to meet you, for a dead man you look pretty good." Lois grinned at him, holding out a hand, as before it was taken, kissed, and she was treated to a rather charming smile. She _refused_ to blush, no matter how much she secretly wanted to.

"I'd hope so; it would be a bit of a shame to lose all my good looks for the little problem of being dead." He winked and she couldn't help but give a bit of a laugh. "Now, are you going to ask me where I've been for so long so we can get this over with, or do you plan on trying to drag it out of me covertly?"

"Mister Wayne, truly, I'll get that story out of you, but you won't even realize that I've done it until it's too late." Lois gave him a smirk that was rewarded with a quiet chuckle.

"Consider myself warned, and please, call me Bruce. 'Mister Wayne' makes me feel old." They were walking as they talked, the man following after looking after the two of them rather resentfully, his grip on the camera he was holding tightening slightly.

"You're certainly anything but that, you're what, twenty? Twenty-one?"

"The second one."

"Oh, well, congrats on hitting legal drinking age. I take it you've already had your celebration, right?"

"You mean when I was supposed to be forced to drink as much as physically possible until I either puked or passed out?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Sadly the billionaire circle isn't as fun, Miss Lane…"

"Ah, ah, if you are going to make me call you Bruce, then at least you need to call me Lois." She smiled up at the taller man, her hand on his arm.

"Lois, then, anyway, I was given a thirty year old bottle of Macallan, told not to drink it in one night, and left alone. Hardly all that exciting." Clark Kent would never be able to spend the amount of money it would take to buy said bottle, he knew it, and the more they talked the more irritated he got.

"Well that's certainly neater and a whole lot more mature than the typical method."

"Most definitely, but have you ever tried to have one glass of Macallan? It's impossible, not that I passed out or anything mind you. It's just wonderful stuff."

Lois laughed, "Well, sadly, I'm afraid to have never gotten a chance to sample that particular drink."

"In that case, I believe we're going to have to fix that. What do you say, Lois, would you like to be my date tonight? I need someone to help bring me up to speed on what's been happening on this side of the world, and from what I've read of your exposé's you're the one to do it."

"So it would be strictly professional?" She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over a petite frame.

"It would be as professional as you wish for it to be." He smiled at her graciously, a look that she couldn't help but feel like caving to. His hazel eyes sparkled when he smiled. She had to admit to finding it dazzling.

"Will you at least give me a hint of what you've been doing overseas?"

"It's possible. Won't know unless you go…"

"It's a date then."

"Excellent, I'll pick you up at the front of the Daily Planet at…?"

"Seven."

"Seven it is, I look forward to seeing you there." He smiled at her and turned to look at Clark, offering his hand. "Mr.?" He already knew who the man standing there was, he had made a full detailing of everyone who worked at the Daily Planet, he knew that Superman often frequented there.

"Kent. Clark Kent." Clark Kent had the feeling he was being tested, a feeling he didn't like, especially due to the fact that the man had already managed to get Lois to let him call her by her first name, and had her going on a date with him. Yep, Clark Kent was pretty pissed; it was also likely the reason Bruce Wayne's eyebrows went up.

"That's quite a grip there, Mr. Kent." Clark realized how tightly he was beginning to squeeze the other man's hand and quickly relaxed it, smiling sheepishly while pushing up his glasses.

"Sorry, Mr. Wayne."

"Bruce, please." He smiled, hazel eyes scrutinizing, likely for all the right reasons in Clark's mind. Kent knew he could have broken his fingers without trying, it shouldn't be personal. Bruce hadn't done anything that was unexpected after all. He just managed to get a date with a woman older than him that Clark had been trying to get a date with ever since he got to Metropolis, but the man certainly didn't know that and couldn't be expected to. _Be friendly, dammit._

"Bruce, sorry, born and raised in Kansas, we have a saying about strong grips."

"Kansas? Been there, nice place, rather flat, but I suppose that's part of the charm, anyway, it was a pleasure to meet you both. I'll see you at the Daily Planet later I suspect." With that he gave them both a parting nod and got into the limo, which promptly drove off.

"Well, that was interesting. By the way, Clark, saying for strong grips? Honestly? And when have you ever gripped someone's hand that hard?" Lois snapped, glaring at him.

"I'm sorry, Lois. But there really is one we go for. Strong grip for men of character. I figured a man like Bruce Wayne deserved it."

"You mean with all the charities he's throwing and becoming involved in?"

"He recently helped finance a hospital in Keystone City, Lois."

"True, but there's always something else going on with the men that have that much money, and I'm going to find out what."

As Clark contemplated the matter, he had to admit to not truly envying Bruce one bit, especially not with that look on her face. _Purely professional,_ he had to remind himself quietly_, purely professional._

…..

The Daily Planet was a bustle of activity as per usual. Perry White barking out orders to a young Jimmy Olsen who hadn't been able to go with them to greet Bruce Wayne, Lois trying to type out her typical report and asking Clark how to spell certain words. A moment later and the bustle of activity quieted, from one end of the room to another, until finally White burst out of his office. "What's going on…oh, Mr. Wayne!" Perry blinked a look of slight surprise on his face before he smiled widely.

"Bruce, please, Mr. White, Bruce. I came here to see how my paper was being run… Looks very good from what I've seen."

"Thank you! And don't worry, we haven't run your paper into the ground yet." Perry White grinned, shaking the offered hand as the rest of their activity returned. "So, what brings you here?"

"It's seven thirty."

Lois had heard, she swore, causing Clark to give a vocal protest that was ignored as she stood up hurriedly. Perry White looked at him in confusion.

"We have a date."

"With her?" White laughed. "She's our star reporter! You haven't come clean yet with what you've been doing, she'll definitely get you to talk."

"Who said I wasn't planning to talk? It's my paper after all; why not give the top story to her?" Bruce grinned at him, a look that Perry returned as well as another handshake. Bruce looked Lois over closely, her red and black business suit examined critically before he gave a brief shake of his head. "You need a lift back to your place first?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, I forgot."

"It's fine. I know how things can be. So I can borrow her, yes?"

"Most definitely, go have fun. She was supposed to get out of here hours ago anyway."

With that blessing, last handshake, and smile the two of them left.

Wayne stood in the middle of the living room of Lois' apartment, waiting for her to finish changing and applying makeup. Her apartment was clean, but he found it hard to describe it as Spartan. There were rugs, couches, chairs, a television on a stand, various knickknacks covered bookshelves, pictures… It was nice. It felt lived in. He liked that fact about it very much.

Finally Lois appeared, smiling and quietly radiant in a stunning black dress and her hair up in a bun. "So, what do you think?"

"Very nice, certainly good enough for where I'm planning to take you, likely better in fact."

The place he had taken her to was gorgeous, a place a man had once taken her before, and one that she knew served wonderful food.

"You ever been to Metropolis before, Bruce?"

"Once, a long time ago, with my father, I barely remember it, I think I was four at the time, but it was a bright city even then. I think Superman had first started…"

"Yep, Superman got his start then. It was a bit spectacular."

"So I've heard."

"Were you ever a big Superman fan?"

Bruce laughed. "It's certainly possible, Lois."

"You were at around the right age to start idolizing him."

"Most definitely, however I live in Gotham, Miss Lane, we lose our heroes early."

"You don't seem to be a man who particularly likes Gotham, _Mr. Wayne_."

Bruce hesitated, looking at his plate and the picked at steak dinner it contained, before giving her a small smile. "My parents were shot in front of me when I was six years old, Miss Lane." Lois froze, her eyes widening and her mouth tightening. "No, I don't particularly like Gotham at times, but it's home, and there are good people that live there. One of them in particular has been missing me for years. I've finally been able to contact her."

"Oh, so there is a her?" Lois asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

Bruce laughed. "I do hope you're not jealous, Lois, she's just a very good friend. She used to babysit me, dating her would be humiliating. She's a bit like an older sister. She's made a job for herself as a prominent lawyer. It's a dangerous job, but I'm proud of her for sticking it out there."

"Well, in that case, I suppose I should offer a toast? You were right about the Macallan, by the way. I think I'm going to need another glass." She smiled at him, raising her glass to offer a toast, when her eyes widened. Bruce blinked, registering her expression and slowly turned around to be faced by the barrel of a gun.

There were few things that scared Bruce Wayne, most of them had been purged from his psyche long ago, the fear of a gun had been the first thing to be transformed, but never expelled truly. However, in this case, when the reporter was sitting behind him who he had just admitted to having his parents be shot in front of him, there was only one option available. He froze, staring up at the man with something like terror slowly allowed to take over.

The man smiled, not noticing the calculated glances that were taken to see the other men scattered among the patrons. "So, you're the great Bruce Wayne. You don't look so 'great' to me. You look like a little kid who's in way over his head."

"I won't contest you about that much."

Lois didn't know what to think, the man was either the craziest she had ever met or the bravest. Either that or a combination of the two.

"Have a sense of humor, don't you? Well, that's good. Look, Wayne, I'm a simple man of business. I have an offer for you."

"Oh?"

"Yes, it's really quite simple…"

Lois had heard enough, reaching silently into her purse she pressed a button on a device she had been given by the Man of Steel, the purpose? Contact him and make him get his butt over there. She wasn't expecting the hand that grasped her arm and dragged her upright, pushing her towards the wall of glass windows that gave a wonderful view of the city surrounding them. The tower restaurant had a wonderful view; she just wished it was closer to the ground.

"Please, is that really necessary?" Bruce's voice was startling, surely with a gun pointing to his head he wouldn't contest what his captors wanted, right? But his expression was black, a bit of that darkness that Linda had seen slowly becoming evident.

"She's Superman's girl." The fear in the man was obvious, sweating hands on her arms as the man looked around, brown eyes flicking back and forth in something like terror. His entire being was shaking, and the realization of this seemed to pass to the rest of the men who were holding the prestigious restaurant hostage.

"Lois, is that true? You let me date you when your boyfriend could crush my bones to powder? That's cruel."

A moment later and the Man of Steel crashed the party, disarming the man who was pointing the gun at Bruce's head before making quick work of the rest. A moment later and he paused in front of Lois, looking at her pointedly. She clicked the button hurriedly, the supersonic whistling that had been the alarm turning off, removing the irritation. It was one of the reasons he had needed to be so quick. It was also likely the reason that one of the men managed to shove, to Lois, and Superman's combined surprise, Bruce Wayne out the window.

Bruce Wayne was in freefall, the glass having shattered in such a way that reminded him almost of rice paper. He honestly couldn't believe his luck. He stood up, moved to say thank you, and the one that had been disarmed had shoved him out the window. Really, how embarrassing. It also irritated him that he had had to play it out that far. The fop needed to be seen as such, cocky, charismatic, and a bit accident prone. He was under no delusions about the scars he was going to receive in his planned line of work. To be honest, he had always wanted to fall out a fourteen story window. Granted he didn't get to enjoy his freefall much, Superman swept in hurriedly, gathering him up in a way that he likely often used for Lois. Bruce, however, was twenty-one years old and male. He had an ego, and he was very much not appreciative.

"My hero." The sarcastic statement made Superman blink, register exactly what position he was holding the man in, and sheepishly change his grip to be more proper for the younger male. Bruce looked down and then looked over his shoulder at Superman. "I'm sorry to be a bother, but I really don't want to deal with people right now." The Man of Steel could feel the man start to tremble, a delayed reaction to the trauma, and understood precisely, changing his decent into an ascent.

"Alright, just hold on a moment, I'll put you on a nearby rooftop."

"And…?" Bruce prodded, looking at him closely. Superman grinned.

"And take you back down when you feel like you can."

"Thanks, for a moment I was afraid you'd leave me up there."

"It's no problem."

Superman did precisely as he had said and the first thing Bruce did was sink down to the ground, stick his head between his knees and breathe. Black eyebrows pinched together in concern for the younger man and Superman crouched down in front of him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine. Hey, I'm sorry about dating Lois; the ladies don't seem to want to tell me they're taken."

Superman laughed. "No, it's fine. We aren't really together, and if she heard herself being referred to as 'taken' she'd kick you where it hurts."

Bruce grinned at him weakly. "So, you're Superman. This is not exactly how I figured I'd meet you, but I'm easy. Bruce Wayne." He held his hand out, the Man of Steel taking it with a smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Wayne."

"I do wish people would stop calling me that."

"I'm sorry, may I ask why?" The question made him close his eyes tightly, fighting back the burst of emotion the words brought to him, before he finally answered quietly.

"…Mister Wayne was my father. He's been dead for a long time. I've never been called that before and I suppose it leads to unpleasant memories."

Superman nodded in understanding, before looking off into the distance. "I'm really sorry to shove you along, but I think Lois is coming this way. I'll drop you off with her, alright?"

"Sounds fine to me."

With that simple affirmation Superman dropped Bruce Wayne off in front of an angry, worried Lois Lane. "Are you alright? I simply can't believe the nerve of those people! I swear to you, Mister Wayne that people in Metropolis are usually not like that. Are you hurt?"

"It's fine, Lois, really. As for being hurt, that glass was ridiculously thin. Shattered without much issue. It's only when you jerk that you get cut."

"You break through windows often?"

"I'm a billionaire, Lois Lane, we do odd things when we're bored. It's honestly been nice meeting you both, but…I think it's time for me to go home. Gotham's calling. I'd say it's high time I answer, don't you? Especially if the rest of the world is throwing gunmen at me. Oh, and…" He pulled a checkbook out quickly, scribbling a brief amount on it before handing it to Lois. "Can you give this to the restaurant with my apologies? Tell them to buy a new window. Something bulletproof the next time, alright?"

He smiled at them both, shook their hands once again, staring at each of them with equal intensity, and proceeded to hail a cab. A moment later and he was gone, leaving behind a stunned reporter, and a contemplative Man of Steel.

A while later, from the inside of the private jet, Bruce patched a call to Alfred.

"Yeah, I figured them out. No they weren't all that hard. For the last time, I'm not planning on using it against them unless I have to. Hopefully they won't make me. Oh, I need transport to Wayne Enterprises as soon as I get home. Yes, it's time to talk to Lucius Fox."


	5. Gotham

Gotham was a dark city. Even when the afternoon sun was at its peak, the city was overtaken by shadows. There were three unfamiliar shadows entering Gotham, two caped ones, along with an un-caped one. People barely noticed as the shadows flitted silently through Gotham, there were so many others to blend into. The shadows landed on a rooftop in the middle of the dark and grimy city, followed by three men, instantly recognizable if only for their costumes. Two of the men were glowing with an eerie green light. One of them was wearing a cape, a green one to match his pants, the red of his shirt standing out against it, a green mask covering his eyes. The insignia on his shirt depicted a glowing lantern. He was the original Green Lantern.

He had been Gotham's protector.

The one who stood next to him was also a Lantern, dark skin and military buzz-cut and no-nonsense expression contrasting to the man standing next to him. Even the outfit was different, form-fitting and black with green highlighting it across the chest and around the wrists as bracers. He also didn't wear a mask, the unnatural shade of his green eyes piercing everything their gaze fell upon. The only thing the two men shared was the green lantern symbol on their chests, and the rings on their fingers.

The other man was as different from them as night and day. Red flowing cape, blue tight-fitting costume with a yellow shield depicting an encased red S, and standing with his hands on his hips, and his blue eyes overlooking the dark city, Superman. He stood silently, examining the state of a city that was crumbling before his very eyes. It hadn't shattered - yet. He had to admit to some surprise and even the tiniest hint of admiration. There was a reason behind the fact that Gotham was still on its feet, and he knew for a fact that it wasn't the man standing behind him.

"So this is Gotham city. Not much to look at, is there?" John Stewart asked, one of the newest Green Lanterns, still examining everything with unnatural eyes.

"There's plenty to see. Gotham has a very rich cultural history. Everything from the architecture to the layout is steeped in it." Alan Scott, the original Lantern, spoke with a kind of possessiveness and pride. Superman wasn't sure what to make of it.

The Man of Steel looked around himself quietly, eyes searching for any people that might be watching, sighing before sliding a backpack off where it had been kept under his cape. A formal suit was dragged on over the top of the uniform. The boots and cape, the only two completely recognizable pieces of the ensemble, were shoved into the backpack and slung over a shoulder. A pair of glasses was placed on the bridge of a nose, and he looked back at the two men with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm going to see what I can dig up. Alan, I'll see you around. John, see who you can get to talk."

With that the man walked over to the gap between the two buildings. Making sure there was a door there that looked like it was used often between them he carefully and quickly hovered down to the concrete below, the constant shadows cloaking him. With a brief straightening of his suit and a quick nudge of his glasses further up his nose, Clark Kent walked out of the alley and joined the hustle and bustle of Gotham city.

Alan sighed and as John left on his own mission, dropped to the alley on the other side and got changed. This was not the time to be a superhero. This was the time to gather information. There was no way he was going to let some upstart take over _his_ city, not if he could help it.

Clark Kent walked calmly, hardly noticed by the surrounding populace, so busy in their own thoughts and worlds that they couldn't spare a thought to the unassuming man in the navy blue suit. He had been in Gotham before. Clark remembered the fearful, shifty faces, the way they kept their heads down and didn't look to either side of them. It had been so different to Metropolis that Clark had almost felt sick. That part of him that wasn't quite the Boy Scout everyone thought him to be cowered away from the broken people, not quite able to stand it. Now…now there was something different happening.

It wasn't anything Earth shatteringly different; it had only been a few months, but they didn't look as broken, didn't look as beaten. But it wasn't until someone apologized for bumping into him that he realized just how much it was changing. Gotham was slowly dragging itself from the rubble and he felt like he knew why. It was looking for this reason that he had come to Gotham, not for Alan Scott.

Clark didn't truly trust the Lantern, although he honestly couldn't have said why. Scott had helped him save Metropolis at a few points in time. Enough time and in enough ways to finally reveal his identity to him, yet there was something off about him. The man didn't stay in the city he was supposed to protect for one thing, letting it become overrun with crime to the point where even the cops were crooks. Or…most of them were.

He was going to talk to one of the few men who might still be considered an honest cop. The _original_ honest cop, Lieutenant Gordon. If his leads were right, the 'reason's' contact was Gordon, and he figured the best way to dig would be to go directly to the man. Clark's goal wasn't to hide his intentions after all; he wanted Gordon to tell him. But that was a job for Superman. Kent was going on a similar errand, but on a smaller scale.

He spent the rest of the day quietly questioning those he could find that might know something. Clark spent time in the seediest of places, the knowledge that these people would likely have the most information keeping him there. What he wasn't prepared for was how little they did know. The questions he asked received a multitude of answers.

"Does he have any powers?" got everything from walking on water to flying. He figured that most were joking and those that weren't honestly thought he could.

"Does anyone know who he is?" got even odder answers, one man even smiling before saying that he was 'the crazy masked vigilante with the bat fetish, can't you tell?' Never mind that the man speaking was about two hundred pounds heavier than Batman was reputed to be…

When Clark finally metaphorically threw up his hands and asked, "Is he even human?" the answers got even weirder. Some told him he was half-man half-monster; others said he was the devil himself.

One thing was certain, Gotham was changing, and none of them truly knew the one that was causing it.

He couldn't _believe_ these people.

Alan Scott was having similar issues. It seemed that no matter who he talked to and who he asked, no one seemed to know a thing about their newest vigilante. All they knew is that he was there, he was there to help, and he was saving lives. Gotham had their own hero now and the pride that shone in their faces when they made that statement caused Alan to feel sick.

There was one thing that the two men were discovering more and more as they talked to people. There were still good people in Gotham. Most of them were just afraid.

They met back on the rooftops later, the shadows having spread to cover most of the city, day overtaken by night. The two Green Lanterns got there first, John, who didn't wear a mask, having spent most of the day seeing if he could stop some of the crimes during the daylight hours. Superman arrived dressed in full uniform and the three of them shared the information they had gathered, pitiful as the amount was.

"So, no one knows anything about this guy. We don't know if he's human, alien, demon, whatever, or if he has any powers. What's the next step?"

"I talk to Gordon," Superman stated, a small frown tugging at his mouth.

"The Lieutenant?" John asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's him."

"I'm coming, too," Alan Scott bit out, his expression dark.

"I'm sorry, Alan, but I'm not sure that's a good idea." Superman, who had been dreading this moment, was unsurprised when the Green Lantern straightened to his full height, glaring fiercely.

"Why not?"

"Look, I just want to speak to Gordon alone, it's nothing personal - to be honest, I just want to meet him. But look, I need you to get a better feel for the city, look around, see what you can find. You know Gotham better than either of us. You'd be able to tell if anything has changed."

"I jury-rigged these radios to hack into police chatter. You might as well come with me; we can take a look at how this city really is at night." John held two of the aforementioned radios out, coming to the man's aid. Alan looked from one to the other, finally letting out a brief grunt and snatching one of the radios.

"Fine."

"Alright, I'll meet you later. Good luck, and while you're at it, see if you can catch a glimpse of him. Granted, it might be a bit hard to sneak up on him when you're glowing green, but that doesn't mean you can't try."

They could have sworn the Man of Steel was smirking, but he shot off into the night sky before they could truly process.

…

Lieutenant Jim Gordon stood on the rooftop of the MCU building quietly. He was holding a Styrofoam cup of coffee in one hand, leaning against the railing and observing the city that took so much and gave so little. Yet even so, things had been changing, and he couldn't quite stop the smile that shifted his moustache. He took a brief sip of his coffee, sighing once, and turned to walk over to the bat-signal. Jim didn't manage to take a single step.

Brown eyes widened behind black framed glasses, eyebrows rising as the Styrofoam cup in his hand slowly started slipping from lax fingers. For a few seconds the only sound was the whipping of a brown trench coat in the wind, masking the sound of a red cape. With a sound like a snort, Gordon tightened his grip on the cup, taking a long gulp from it before crushing it in his hand calmly.

Gordon's recovery was quicker than most people, Superman reflected, touching down on the dingy rooftop fully. Hovering didn't always sit well with people, and he wanted to talk, not intimidate.

"Well, never thought I'd see you out of Metropolis. What brings you to Gotham, Superman?" Gordon asked finally, taking the initiative out of a desire to have _something_ under his control. He also couldn't help but wonder what exactly it was that drove the men in capes into his presence.

Superman dipped his head once, smiling at him before nodding over to the bat-signal calmly. "I'm pretty sure you know the reason."

Gordon tensed slightly, examining the bat symbol easily before nodding once. "Yeah, yeah I suppose I do. So…anything I can get you?" Jim didn't plan on making this easy; he wasn't that sure how much he trusted the hero in front of him. He wasn't that sure how much _he_ would want told to the hero in front of him.

"No, that's fine. I really just came to ask a few questions."

"Alright."

Superman gave him a half-smile, sighing before commenting quietly, "You really aren't planning on giving anything away, are you?"

"Not really, or not much, common knowledge, maybe." Gordon shrugged lightly.

"I have to admit to hoping for a little more than common knowledge, not many people believe he even exists. Or…they think he's more of an urban legend. Although the question of how they can think that when you have this lovely thing…" Superman rapped his knuckles on the side of the signal gently.

"Yeah, true, but now they think that it's just a way to scare them. The idea of one man doing the things he does seems rather wild to some people."

Superman made a sound like the stifling of a laugh. "Yeah, well, I don't blame them for that much. Saving an entire city from a terrorist attack that would have destroyed them otherwise is pretty big. So it is just one man?"

"It is."

"So he does exist?"

"Yes, he does exist." Gordon was smiling at him truly now, half testing his patience, half trying to make sure he didn't give too much away. Superman understood his position as well as his reasons, and he smiled back.

"Alright, does he have any powers?"

Gordon hesitated slightly, looking off into space silently before finally answering with a single word: "Yes."

Superman's eyebrow was raised. "Really? I suppose you're not going to tell me what kind, are you?"

"Above and beyond a normal mans. I suppose that's what you want to know, right?"

"It does work." Superman sighed, and finally, with a grin asked, "Is he human?"

"He's something."

The Man of Steel smiled softly before shaking his head. "Alright, I get the hint; you really can't tell me much about him, can you?"

"Afraid not, it's nothing against you it's just I don't know when he may be listening."

Superman straightened, "Is he threatening you?"

Gordon laughed. "No, no he's not, and he wouldn't. But, I will admit to this much, he is _scary_. You'll understand when you see him. Which, I'm guessing is what you're planning on doing, right?"

"That is the plan eventually." Superman had started to hover, planning on meeting up with the rest of the informal team.

"You are aware that I'll be passing the word onto him directly, yes? Let him know you were asking questions?" Gordon asked finally, raising an eyebrow at him, unsure if he was pushing his luck.

"I'd expect you to; besides, it's also like you said. He may already know." With that he shot off into the night, Gordon watching him go with a smirk.

With a brief sigh the man pushed his glasses up on his nose, looked to the signal and restarted his aborted move towards it. Just as he reached out for the handle that would turn it on, a voice cracked out from the shadows.

"Leave it." Gordon jerked his hand back like he had been burned, whirling around to face the shadows that had spoken to him.

"Were you there the whole time?" Gordon asked finally once he had recovered enough.

"Not exactly."

Gordon huffed, half-angry and half-unsurprised. He didn't bother asking if Superman had noticed him, he figured if he had, the man would have stuck around. But how should he know what went on in the minds of these people? "You really need to stop doing that. One of these days I'm going to get a little bell and tie it around your neck. Likely after I have that heart attack."

When he had first shown up, threatening him with what he had discovered to be his own stapler; Jim had found himself beyond skeptical. As time wore on, Gordon found himself unable to believe it. Batman was saving Gotham. He was actually doing it and the man who he had thought was threatening murder had become something of a friend. Well, as much of a friend as you could be when you didn't know the man under the mask.

There wasn't the slightest hint of a smirk on the mouth Gordon could see and he was surprised to note that the black eyes that would usually be glinting at him had been replaced by white lenses. He examined the new look and couldn't help but admit that it made the man before him appear even more demonic.

It was amazing what a person could tell just from the eyes, or in this case the lack of them.

"You're aiming to scare them to death, aren't you?"

"No. Just from Gotham."

Gordon nodded slowly. "How do I help?"

"When I signal, turn it on."

Six words, a blink, and the man was gone, vanishing into the night. Gordon sighed briefly, nodded once, and pulled the trench coat tighter around himself, leaning against the bat signal. He didn't bother asking how he would be signaled, when the time came he would be. He would then perform to the best of his ability.

_Which had to be pretty damn good,_ Gordon thought. _If I can't even turn a signal light on properly then we'll all be in trouble._

….

The crime rate in Gotham was unbelievable. John could barely believe it as he listened to the radio belt out various details. Alan, on the other hand, was used to Gotham. _Had_ been used to Gotham. The reports weren't anything Earth shattering. In fact…

They seemed almost subdued. At least from what he remembered. He didn't like the thought. Although, at the same time he did. Alan was finding himself both adoring and hating this new hero for what he was doing for the city. It shouldn't be possible. Yet it was, and Alan Scott felt the slightest stirrings of hope.

But that didn't mean he wouldn't go down fighting.

So far there had been no signs of anyone stopping the criminals, but that all changed a moment later. A report about a man strung up from a lamppost with a bag of stolen money attached to him was the first thing to be called in. They could hear the sounds of the man babbling in his panic behind the officer on his radio. Shortly after another was reported, followed by another. Finally the two of them pulled up short, shock beginning to take the place of whatever disgust they might have felt. It wasn't enough to overpower the crimes being called in, but it was slowly getting there.

Superman joined them a moment later, eyebrow raised, in answer John turned up the volume, the Man of Steel's eyes widening for a moment before he let out a whistle.

"You don't think that he has a power similar to the hero in Central City, do you?" John asked finally.

"I wouldn't put it past him."

"That might make it difficult to catch him."

Superman smiled slightly. "Alright. Let's see what we can find out."

They hovered over various reported crimes, examining the criminals they found left up as nice little presents. Officers attempted to get them down, yet most of them were trying not to laugh.

_"Got another package here,"_ was a common radio transmission and one the three of them were beginning to be quite amused by.

"I'll tell you one thing, this guy has got style."

"He's also got stealth… Any of you seen anything?"

"Not a single thing."

It was getting close to daybreak, and they hadn't seen anything. This was turning out to be harder than they had thought.

_"Hey! There was a cape over here, corner of Fifth and Bradley, going north! I've never seen anything _move _that fast! He left four guys behind him, too!" _The sudden announcement from the radios broke the silence, the three of them reacting immediately. They flew off in the direction indicated, almost horrified to find that they still couldn't find him.

"This is ridiculous! We're given a direction and a stupid street corner, how the hell can this guy move that fast?"

As they were watching, staring around the empty looking area, all of them forgot to look up, until they heard it. Whipping in the breeze, the sound almost more intimidating than they could believe, especially since two of their number was wearing one, a cape. They looked up slowly, locking eyes with a shadowy figure with blank white eyes staring down at them from its perch on the side of a building. Everything about that figure demanded fear and respect. The fact that it had managed to sneak up on them had nothing to do with it.

Alan's ring glowed brighter in response to the sight of him, immediate wariness also making him want to see anything about the figure that they could use against him. The cape surrounded his body however, making him a black featureless pillar that still stared at them silently. The cowl had what looked like horns coming up from the sides of it, the entire effect, thrown into relief with the light leading to further tension. He seemed to be a part of the shadows and even as more were repelled, more seemed to cling to him. Superman found that his x-ray vision wouldn't work. He guessed that the costume was lined with lead, but he had heard so much about the figure before him that he couldn't help but wonder if this was merely another one of his powers.

_"Why have you come to Gotham?"_The question was biting and vicious, harsh and animalistic, and also something that made them wary.

"To ask you some questions, to see if you existed," Superman replied calmly, choosing to react to the situation as it happened. He was questioning them, fair enough; they had come to do the same.

_"You may ask your questions."_

"Will you answer them?"

_"Perhaps."_The voice still held its intimidating quality, but there was something teasing in its tone.

"What is Gotham to you?"

_"Gotham is a cesspool of a city filled with corruption and greed where honest people fear to tread and the night is a thing to hate and despair of by all but the criminals."_

Superman blinked, not expecting the answer. "Then why do you fight for it?"

_"They should not have to fear the darkness."_

He said nothing else, the answer short and unsatisfying. There wasn't much he could do, so he merely offered another question.

"Why don't you ever work in the day?"

The answer was a laugh, cool, challenging, sending shivers up their spines as it lacked all warmth. _"The reason they shouldn't fear the darkness is because the darkness is _me_. The criminals and the oppressors need to learn that the night is _mine_. I have answered your questions. Now leave Gotham."_

"You have no right to order us out!" Alan shouted out finally, snarling.

_"Gotham is mine to protect. Your kind is not welcome. Leave."_

"What makes you think that you can claim a city?" Alan's ring burst with light, further illuminating the figure before them. The white of his eyes glowed with reflected green light, a mouth that they could finally see curling up in a smile that spoke of death and violence.

_"I didn't claim it. It claimed me."_

As the words were spoken the signal flared to life. They jolted back, not even needing to look up, staring at the symbol of a bat surrounded by yellow light, the signal lighting up the night sky in a blaze of glory. It was then that something happened that caused Alan to nearly lose control of his flight. Throughout the entire conversation, various crimes were being reported in, the radio a constant buzz behind the conversation. Yet as the signal lit up the sky, everything went quiet. There was no sound of any new crimes and that was when the sudden snicker of a cop rang out.

_"You know, I don't usually like vigilantes, but this one can stay."_ The comment led to laughter, grating on their ears and yet somehow soothing.

A moment later and the black figure moved, launching itself forward, managing to dive between them before flying off into the city. The shape of a bat was left imprinted into their minds and the three men were left staring out into the sky. Alan Scott felt himself crumble from the inside out, slumping slightly in his posture as he looked to the ground.

"Alright, Batman…alright, you win…"

"What?" John asked, looking at his teammate in surprise.

"We're leaving. Gotham is his now, he's right. Gotham really has chosen him." He smiled rather bitterly and then laughed. "I'm honestly rather grateful. I also wish him luck."

With that he left, the two men standing there looking at each other before following.

Gotham belonged to the Knight and he apparently wasn't too keen on sharing.

…

The Batman returned to the bunker to find Alfred waiting for him, as well as someone he hadn't expected at all. Rachel Dawes smiled at him as he climbed out of the Tumbler, after parking over a particular spot. He pressed a hidden panel and the tank looking machine sank into the floor, a white panel closing over it. She was looking the costume up and down carefully now that they were surrounded by light and not in darkness.

"You know, your costume isn't quite as frightening in the light. Not being flooded with Scarecrow's toxin would also help I suppose." She smiled at him gently.

"That's why I don't work in daylight. What are you doing here Rachel?" Bruce Wayne removed the mask, his expression stern, but there had been no reason for him to worry. He had told her she could come.

"I would apologize, sir, but she asked, and as you did tell her, I thought it would do no harm for her to see the current headquarters. Besides, she had something to ask you." Alfred walked forward calmly, indicating the medical box next to the computer. Bruce waved it away as he took a step closer to Rachel, the younger man cocking his head in question.

"Actually, it's more something to tell you…" She sighed, plucking at her fingers gently.

"Oh?"

"You know Harvey Dent?"

"You mean the one with those stupid campaign commercials? 'I believe in Harvey Dent'?" He seemed to dismiss the conversation as he moved over to the monitors in the cave, examining them quietly.

"Yes, I mean that one. Look, I'm dating him."

Bruce froze, slowly turned around and stared at her. "You're dating _him_? The man running for DA?"

"Yes, I'm not asking for your permission, but I figured it would only be fair to let you know. You're like a brother to me number one, and number two I need to prove that honesty isn't the worst policy and that people should be informed when someone makes such a radical change."

"I told you eventually."

"After I thought you had turned into a conniving jerk, granted, I thought you were a conniving jerk that enjoyed helping the local charities, but still a conniving jerk." Rachel had her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised as she glared at him. "Bruce, honesty is and always will be the best policy. I understand how in this case it can't be helped, but please, don't forget to tell the truth once in a while. It would help a lot of people."

Bruce sighed and nodded briefly. "Alright, so, when were you planning on letting me meet this guy?"

"I wasn't. Like I said, I don't need your blessing."

"Oh, on the contrary, you need my blessing, and likely my skills in order to find out if he has his pockets being filled by less than honest means. Don't roll your eyes at me, Rachel, it's like you said, honesty is the best policy, and you were definitely not being honest." He winked at her, a smile slowly spreading across his face before he turned to Alfred. "They left without much of a fight."

"Who did?" Rachel asked, an eyebrow rising.

"Superman and the Green Lanterns, I believe John Stewart and the original. Gotham's Lantern." His voice was bitter, his expression dark, and Rachel understood that underneath that semi-calm exterior Bruce was boiling with suppressed emotions, not one of them pleasant, all of them dangerous.

"You scared them to death, didn't you?" Dawes pressed, needing to know, needing to find out if he was that far gone yet.

"No, just from Gotham."


	6. Batman

Bruce Wayne had trained for terrorists, muggers, rapists, crooks, and petty thieves. He had fought against mad doctors that fed on fear, mutated humans that had the strength and the name of crocodiles, and the mob. He had also nearly singlehandedly saved Gotham from a terrorist threat that would have left its inhabitants sniveling, terrified wrecks. He had scared some of Earth's mightiest heroes away from Gotham, one of them who only had special kind of rock as a weakness and was considered the most powerful man alive. But he had never trained for something like this, and he knew it.

Batman found his every attack repulsed at every turn. Three scientists of average build and what should be average fighting ability and they were managing to give him something of a run for his money. The kicker was they weren't average at all and he knew it. He had seen them, heard them talk to each other, watched as the balding gray-haired man and the Asian man had changed shape to escape from the bola wrapped around them, literally been thrown back by an overweight woman as well. Whatever they were, they weren't average, and he was strongly suspected that they weren't even human.

He was about to change his attack pattern entirely when he heard something that was both unsurprising and extremely annoying. Why did his leads have to point him to Metropolis?

"Need a hand?" The Man of Steel asked, regarding the three doctors and the way Batman was standing, typical white lenses focused and blank.

"No. I can handle it." He bit out, ignoring Superman's quiet comment, especially when they called something else out, before turning around and running away. Batman ran after them, Superman flying after. It was his city, Batman respected this fact. It was then that something happened that took Batman completely off-guard. One moment the Big Blue Boy-Scout had been flying over top of him and the next he was crying out, grasping his head as though it pained him, and falling to the railing on the observatory the two were standing on. The Dark Knight paused, looking back at him, and looking over at the retreating figures. As they pushed a button and the panel they had modified earlier started flashing yellow his choice was made for him.

Never trust a blinking light.

He gathered Superman up hurriedly, attaching a line and running towards the edge of the dish. He dove off the side just as the dish began to explode, the line holding as he swung them to safety. Just as everything else had happened so far, the unexpected, but predicted, happened. The explosion turned more vicious, his line snapped even as he let go with a grunt, and sent them both tumbling down the hill. Batman was careful to change the uncontrolled tumble into more of a roll to prevent injuries. Kevlar armor or not, he wasn't taking any chances.

Yet as he managed to flip over next to Superman lying prone on the ground he knew he wasn't as injury free as he had hoped. As always the injury was catalogued and ignored for later. The scientists got up from what seemed to be a small crater. He could barely see them, yet it seemed as though they had been severely injured by the explosion. Yet as he watched they slowly pieced themselves back together, leaving into the night.

Batman narrowed his eyes slowly, when the sound of someone gasping in pain brought his attention to the man lying behind him. He turned around and watched as Superman sat upright, looking around himself dazedly.

"What happened?" Superman asked

"I was hoping you could tell me." Superman glanced at Batman as the answer came, unsurprised that he was standing yet again in a way to fully conceal his costume. A moment later, as though he heard the thought, the cape split as he slowly offered a hand. Superman accepted and found himself heaved upright. The costume, now that he could see it, appeared black, yet he could see a darker symbol of a bat on his chest. The faded yellow of a belt with many pouches was the only color he could see. There were also attachments to his gauntlets that looked like they could pierce through metal if he was so inclined.

"I don't know what it was, I saw images, flashes of color, it was all so intense that I… That's really all that I remember."

Batman didn't comment, merely looked back at the burning satellite observatory. "Obviously they didn't want to leave behind any evidence. It might actually work, too. They cut it off from the network." He almost seemed to sneer at the admission, but ignored it. He didn't seem to wish to waste time on what he saw as useless, flashing images were apparently useless. Superman however, had other questions to ask him.

"What's this all about anyway, I thought you didn't leave Gotham?" The last point was added on as an afterthought, something of a smile gracing his face even though Batman couldn't find much to smile about. This entire meeting had him boiling with anger.

"Over the past few months I've detected several security breaches in our global deep space monitoring network." He kept his tone light, even though his words were clipped.

"You can do that?" Superman raised an eyebrow at him in a way that practically screamed 'should I consider this illegal?'

"I can do a lot of things." He didn't elaborate, and Superman raised his hands in surrender at the glare he received. "The point is no one has claimed responsibility. Something is happening. I had hoped they would help me find out what." Batman glared over at the tree line where the 'scientists' had disappeared.

"I'd like to stay and look into it, but I'm expected back in Metropolis." Superman looked apologetic. His blue eyes were also glinting with curiosity. In the blaze of the fire, it was the best look he had gotten at the mysterious Batman that was still considered myth by most of the general populace.

Batman didn't bother biting back the sarcastic comment that flew from his lips. "Another key to the city?"

Superman raised an eyebrow, unsure whether to be amused or offended. Everything about the individual before him was brusque and harsh. Rather than reply to it though, he offered something instead. Batman took what looked like a watch from his hand hesitantly, eyes narrowing at it in consideration. "It's a signal watch; call me if you need help. It is my city after all; I like to keep tabs on what goes on. You will give me a report on what you find later, right?" He raised an eyebrow at him and flew off before Batman opened his mouth to answer.

Batman looked at the watch, sneered and finally gave a brief bitter and sarcastic, "Right." He turned back to the observatory, then back at the watch. It _was_ his city. It might potentially be the world. He put it in one of the pouches of his belt, snapping it shut and left. There was too much to worry about. He had trained hard to put away the hatred he felt for the killer of his parents. If he could do that, he could certainly do this. He felt like he would have to before it was all over. For now, he had work to do.

….

Bruce was back in Gotham, not that anyone knew he had left. He was also currently in what he counted one of the most important conversations of his life. Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent sat across the table from him, a woman by the name of Samantha Stone sitting next to him. The double-date was mostly unplanned, and Harvey was obviously uncomfortable. When Rachel introduced Bruce as one of her old childhood friends, he seemed to straighten a bit. He understood precisely what this was about now and he decided to make the best impression he could.

"So, what do you think of the Government's decision to use Superman instead of atomic weapons to keep the peace?" Harvey's question was asked with a raised eyebrow and a charming smile, the blond comfortable in his own good looks.

"Well, I think in some ways it's certainly better, in others…" Rachel started, only to be quietly joined in by most of the table. "He's just one man." The statement was echoed by three people, while Samantha looked rather bored, taking a sip of her expensive wine with a pout on her lips.

"I understand that he's powerful, but there's no way he can possibly hope to save everyone…" Bruce began, only to have Harvey interrupt with a smile.

"He thinks he can." The statement was made with a raised eyebrow that was met on three sides, Samantha's in annoyance at the current topic.

"That's certainly true, but the rest of the hero community doesn't seem that sold on the idea." Bruce smirked slightly as he answered. Rachel smiled behind her glass as she raised it. She knew precisely which one he was talking about, and it was also true that most of them didn't think it was a good idea.

"Well, we do have to consider the fact that some of them might not be out for the public's best interest. Well, no, that's not what I meant. Some of them are out for _recognition_. It's possible that they might not want the entire control of the planets security to be given to Superman. Even if it is just in name," Rachel finally pointed out. Bruce nodded

"Aside from that, so what he's one man. If all accounts are right, Batman is one man, too. Just look at what he's doing for this city!" Harvey gestured rather expansively, gaining a bit of interest in the high profile restaurant. The man running for DA seemed to shrink slightly before continuing. "He's one man that's fighting to make a difference and he's _succeeding_. The mobs are running scared; Gotham is actually starting to claw itself back from the ashes. So you know what… I say we give Superman a chance. Maybe he can keep the world safe from harm. He is the most powerful being on this planet after all…" He knocked back his drink and smiled at them, his point made and judging from the expressions on his audiences faces, accepted.

"You know, that is a good point. What do you think about Batman, Mister District Attorney?" Of all the points for her to comment on, they hadn't expected Stone's question to be that.

"Well, I'm not the DA, at least not yet." He smiled, not the cocksure smile Bruce expected, but a teasing one filled with humor. "As for Batman…I think he's a man trying to make a difference. I'm honestly willing to let him."

"So you would openly ally yourself with a vigilante?" Stone asked with a slightly twisted smile.

"I would actually see about recruiting him." He leaned across his plate with a smirk as he answered her, and they laughed.

"You certainly make a good point."

"I think he would like it better if he wasn't constantly fighting against the law as well as the criminal element. I'd honestly like to make it easier for him to do so."

"I'm sure of one thing, whoever he is, he likely appreciates it." Rachel raised a glass to that and they drank.

…

Batman ignored the sign that labeled the establishment closed. Star Labs was a building in Metropolis that he had traced the so-called scientists to. After the dinner with Harvey and Rachel it was a simple matter of catching a bit of sleep to allow him to function well enough and use a car to enter the city. He hadn't taken the Tumbler. It made too much noise and as the bat-pod was still in the experimental stages, he wasn't willing to take it out yet. The building was old and rundown, yet as he entered he found it to be in a state that was not as unkempt as he had thought. He was tense and alert, dropping from the air vents into a room he had picked as being the most likely to have what he was looking for.

He was right; there on the desk was a similar piece of technology that he had seen used before by those things. Black and white, strangely organic in form and shape. He ran a gloved finger over it before he heard it. The people from the Observatory walked into the room through a side door, clicking the light off behind them as they left.

The Dark Knight was out for answers, not confrontation, he waited for them to pass, hidden on a slightly higher level, and then dropped down. He walked forward, opening the door as he came to it, and clicking the flashlight he had pulled from his belt on. Batman slowly trained it around the room, ignoring the ordinary things like the desk and chair in the corner, and then it focused on something very unordinary. In the corner were three pods of black and white support, containing a red liquid-filled membrane. Inside the membrane were the bodies of three people, three of the same people he had seen before. The very same people that had just walked passed him earlier. Walking forward he pulled out a batarang, flicking it open and slicing it through the membrane of the closest person.

The white male with balding hair fell out from it, dressed only in his underwear. At first he looked like he wasn't breathing, and then he groaned. As his fingers pressed against his pulse, the man's heart seemed to be pumping faster, his vitals stabilizing. They would be fine, he decided. It was then that he heard it. Low, dark, something that he knew would come to be an issue later. His flashlight trained on the open doorway, quietly cursing his lack of foresight as a large brown and black dog slowly entered the room, growling at him lowly.

The suddenness of the attack was something he wasn't ready for; launching himself backward as the dog threw itself forward, managing to push him to the ground as he backed away, Kevlar plating keeping the claws from entering in too deeply. He shot a grappling hook for the support beam above and behind him, pulling him away from the dog and hopefully out of its reach.

Yet as he watched the dog seemed to change, losing the fur and form found in the species. It turned jelly-like, a translucent membrane covering a strange alien like substance. It could change its shape and form. As it began climbing up the wall towards where he was crouched, he decided that he was definitely a cat person. The sudden leap it took towards him, sending him crashing to the floor cemented his dislike of dogs.

As it took a further swipe at him he remembered something. The Boy-Scout had wanted to be informed? Fine. He'd let him deal with the stupid thing. He pressed the button, unsurprised when he heard nothing, deciding that it would likely be something only the original owner would be able to hear. He dove out of the ways of the 'dog's next attack, refusing to be on the ground or under something when the Alien came. The thought made him pause, longer than he should have; the claws got him, raking into the Kevlar and into flesh. He was honestly glad that black hid blood so well.

He rolled backwards, when there was the sudden sound of someone opening the doors, that he could hear perfectly due to the enhancements in his cowl.

"Now would be the perfect time!" His shout was immediately flown to, the Man of Steel freezing at the sight of the 'dog' before him. Superman moved to attack when the thing slid away hurriedly, seemingly on instructions to hide from his sight. Batman remained in his half-crouch, watching as it oozed through the window and out into the night.

"What the heck was that?" Superman looked after it with wide eyes, his knowledge of the other before him making him hesitate. He didn't know if the other was wounded and that's why he called him, or if there was something else.

"I was hoping you could tell me. You're the alien from another planet." The voice was typically dark, typically deep, but the growl he had noticed before when he had first talked to him was gone. He didn't plan on asking about it.

"True, but I've never seen _that_ before. Did you need help?" He still hadn't stood up, he wasn't sure if that meant he was injured, or looking for something. His head hadn't raised from the floor either. Didn't they say he was a detective? Maybe he was looking for something.

Batman raised himself into a full standing position, the tears in his skin ignored. They weren't that deep.

"You asked for a report. You have a pest problem. The whole world likely has a pest problem."

"What do you mean?"

"That thing was a dog. It looked exactly like one until it started climbing up a wall in order to reach me. In the next room there are three people. Two of them are trapped in a pod of some kind. I released one of them, he's fine, but was completely out cold. Those people were the same ones we saw at the observatory. I think we're looking at an invasion. Either they're already here, or they are merely the start of the invasion force…" Before he could finish speaking there was a streak of fire across the sky. The two of them looked up and out the window, tracking the flaming meteor as it headed towards the middle of Metropolis. "I'd call it the start."

Superman rose into the air, looking down at the man standing there. "Can you fly?"

"Not exactly."

"I have to get there. I might need your help."

"Fine, I'll do whatever I can."

"Good, thank you. Hold still."

"Wait…what?"

Before he could truly process he had been grasped under his arms and was flying up into the air. His first reaction was to elbow the one holding him in the gut. Superman didn't react, recognizing it as a likely defensive reaction. "We need to get there quickly."

"There are other methods aside from you carrying me!"

"Calm down, it won't be for long."

"Set me down out of sight. There's too much light in this city." Superman took it as close to an acceptance as he was going to get. He wasn't sure what to make about the comment about the light however. His mind was flooded with images of vampires before he could truly banish them, wondering if his powers were wraith like. He sure felt tangible enough, but with the way he moved… Superman did as he was told, lowering him onto a rooftop out of sight of the firefighters and other bystanders that stared at the giant mountain of rock that was still flaming fitfully. Batman launched a cable and ran to the side of the building to dive off as the Man of Steel swooped down to examine the groove the meteor had made down the street of his city.

Two of the workers were standing closer than the others, Superman's hearing picking up the quiet conversation they had about how it was still too hot to get close to and not to touch. Before he could truly process what was happening, he watched as the rock crumbled and then split, a long white _thing_ breaking its way through the rock and came crashing down towards the two men. He immediately dove down, grasping them and flying them out of the way, and almost directly into another thing that shot out of the rock close to the first. He finally managed to get them to safety, turning to watch as another white thing shot out, and slowly pulled itself upright with what he realized were its legs.

It was a large tripod-like monstrosity, its oblong head covered in red and black blotches, one in the center looking vaguely like an eye. It stood there for a moment, almost seeming to attempt to gain its bearings, before the black that covered the red 'eye' shrank to a pinprick, and a red laser of light shot out, blowing a police car sky high. Superman had had enough. He charged, flying up towards it, only to be blasted back by yet another beam, and for a moment his world was only pain.

He was sent flying backwards, falling to a rooftop and sending it crumbling as he rolled off to land on the street below, creating his own mini-crater in the process.

Batman watched all of this with narrowed eyes, the white lenses hiding the shock that flashed across black-ringed eyes. He had seen Superman take a hit many times in his youth. He knew what it would take to send him back. He didn't have anything that could help him aid the other. Not yet at least. As those with weapons fired them, members of the SWAT and the police force, he watched as the bullets bounced off uselessly, the tripod-like thing taking its first few steps, destructive as they were. A roaring near him brought his attention to the Tumbler. He wondered how many people had seen it on its drive in from the outskirts of Metropolis… He doubted he could do much, but they needed a distraction. At least until he could get something bigger.

Metropolis was unprepared for the arrival of the Tumbler. They had seen the news and were completely aware of the fact that the vehicle was synonymous with Batman and high-level destruction. The missiles that were focused on the leg of the tripod seemed to give them more room to recognize how truly destructive it was. The members of the police force and the SWAT team rallied to the Tumbler, desperately trying to cause some damage, letting the Tumbler draw it's fire as they attempted to shoot into whatever hole that would be created.

Batman steered the Tumbler in and out and around the legs of the machine, buying time. Superman flew in as it was distracted; landing a few solid hits, the combination of another pair of missiles sent at the rear leg sent it crashing into the bridge support. Superman flew forward, pounding on it. Batman watched as he backed the Tumbler away, idling loudly as Superman drove his fingers into the 'eye', starting to pry it open. If he could get in just one good shot… The black of the pupil contracted again, another laser blast sending Superman flying off, blasting him into the building behind them as the tripod forced itself upright, yet not before he managed to get yet another hit. Just like that, he was back to drawing its fire and aiming for the legs.

Superman could take care of himself.

Before he could truly cognate, Batman watched as the meteor the thing had come from start to tremble, another tripod forcing its way out of the rock, another following that one. Batman hated this situation. He hated everything about it. It was public, he didn't have the right toys, and there were too many of them. Suddenly he noticed something blue and red shoot off overhead, in the opposite direction to the fight.

"Where's he going?" He was barely aware of the way his fingers tightened on the controls, knowing that the alien must have thought of something. He needed to follow. It was then that something passed overhead and he got an idea. He narrowed his eyes and smiled.

…..

Batman fiddled with the controls quietly, the mask over the lower half of his face supplying him with the oxygen necessary at high altitudes. He had followed Superman's trail for hours. It was only now as he was nearing a site in Alaska that he truly felt like he was getting closer. Tanks, other things of that sort were either disabled or destroyed. As he neared the military base he grew more certain that he was right. He also grew more certain that he did not like the current situation.

He had left the Tumbler back with the man he had taken the fighter jet from, the trade something they were willing to call worthwhile. Both of them had given promises to return the borrowed machinery back in one piece. The man had been too excited about getting a weapon from _Batman_ of all people to really care about losing his jet.

He landed the jet in front of the gaping hole in the wall that was made by someone who had punched through it. The only thing left to do was follow the trail of destruction and see what precisely had gotten into the Man of Steel.

A door that was hanging off its hinges got his attention. He neared it cautiously, pushing it gently, only for it to collapse to the ground. He was not expecting the sight before him. Hundreds of pods filled the room, hundreds of people floated inside red membranes. A pounding drew his attention and he followed it to find Superman. He was beating away at a locked door that looked as though it was titanium reinforced. He had already managed to make a significant dent in it. Throwing a single batarang that imbedded itself into the wall beside him Batman gained his attention, staying in the shadows where he knew he would make a greater impact.

"Hold it Superman, destroying Government property isn't your style. What's going on?"

"See for yourself." With that he threw away the door, walking into the room and towards another door at the end. Batman examined the monitors on the wall, displaying schematics for something that didn't seem…human. As Superman shoved open the metal door he got to see how inhuman it was.

It was green, its body thinner and odder in its musculature than he had seen; it was also forced into a standing position, the top of its head encased in some form of machine.

"What is it?" Batman stared at the thing before him filled with a type of distrust and curiosity that confused him. Everything seemed angular and sharp.

"Mankind's only hope." Superman shoved two levers up, releasing the creature from its confines and began to explain quietly. He got a better look at it as Superman helped him stand up, the top of its head was crested, its heels elevated slightly. "He's been trying to reach out to me telepathically, but that stasis field interfered. When his message finally broke through, I came to rescue him."

Batman walked forward quietly, finally asking the question that rang through his mind. "What's he doing here?"

"_The invasion."_The words echoed inside his mind and Batman immediately backed up, teeth bared in an involuntary reaction, eyes narrowing as his mental state changed to one of immediate defense. His mental state was always different as Batman. Bruce Wayne knew that and was unworried about that much, but he always hated it when something like this happened. _"I came to warn you but I was captured and imprisoned here. They wouldn't listen."_

"Big surprise." His words were biting and sarcastic. The presence of a telepath would make his position that much harder.

The alien looked at him through large orange eyes without pupils. _"I sense you do not trust me. Perhaps this will help."_ Before his very eyes his shape changed, turned rounder, less angular, more human. A blue cape with a high collar framing his head as a red x crossed his chest, connected to a pair of short blue shorts appeared. Blue boots completed the look. He took a step forward as Batman took two back. "I am J'onn Jones." He stated quietly, offering his hand to shake.

Batman stayed where he was, his mind bristling with everything necessary to keep him as Batman and not as Bruce Wayne. He watched as the form in front of him slumped minutely and ignored it. Superman stepped forward between them finally, taking pity on the alien.

"Don't take it personally, J'onn. He doesn't seem to trust anyone." J'onn's hand lowered slowly and his eyes never wavered.

"A wise policy."

They left, Batman keeping to J'onn's side, framing him between the two. He may not like the Kryptonian for reasons other than personal, but he knew that he was on the Earth's side. The man walking between them? He had no such certainty.

"We'll need to talk to the joint chiefs about this." Superman was explaining when a spotlight found them.

"Stop right there!" Batman looked out to the mass of soldiers in front of him and felt himself tense. "Listen Superman, you're trespassing in a restricted area. Our orders are to keep that freak here."

"Wait, I'll vouch for him, you must let us go!" Superman positioned himself in front of the alien, Batman tensing as the conversation continued, mind racing through patterns and recent developments. His mouth tightened as a niggling suspicion ate itself into his brain, watching the older general bark his answers.

"I don't think so." J'onn had said he came to warn them about the invasion.

"But the world's security might be at stake." What if they were already there?

"That's why he'll never leave here alive." Batman watched as the men and women in front of him morphed into vaguely humanoid shapes, taller, more oblong than anything else. Their weapons changed, a single red eye staring at them. He felt himself tense, recognizing what was happening and looked at Superman from the corner of his eye.

"Thank you, Superman for disabling our weapons. You're doing a wonderful job at protecting us. The World would like to thank you."

His words had the desired effect. Superman was pissed.

"It's them." The statement was unnecessary, yet as they charged and Batman dodged to the side to avoid the lasers that caught Superman, he couldn't find himself caring.

J'onn took cover with him behind an overturned vehicle, Batman priming one of his newer inventions, an explosive batarang. "Stay down," he bit out, standing up just enough to get a decent shot at them, the ensuing explosion taking out a fair few of them. As he primed another he watched J'onn's expression change.

"Behind you!" Before he had time to think of what was happening, J'onn had phased through him to the other side, glowing with a strange energy as he deflected a laser blast that would have killed him. Before he could think of doing anything else, the alien slumped, clutching his chest and groaning.

"J'onn!" His exclamation was useless and served no purpose, yet for a moment he couldn't find himself caring. He never could when someone was injured. He slung the alien's arm over his shoulders telling him to "hold on" as he stood up. A shadow fell over them and he looked up to see Superman holding a tank above his head.

"Take him to safety, I'll cover you."

Batman did just that, helping the alien slung over his shoulder over to the waiting jet, moving back the canopy and setting him into the co-pilot's seat as he took the front. The canopy closed over the top of them and the jet took off, Superman throwing the tank at the invaders, the resulting explosion sending them flying. A moment later and J'onn seemed to stiffen, his eyes glowing a red color. "Well, that went well."

"We're not safe yet, look."

Batman watched as more strange-looking ships flew from behind the mountains, his fingers tightening on the controls, even as he forced the mask over his face. He immediately launched into a series of evasive maneuvers. Superman flying near him avoiding his first turn just barely. The jet was angled in and out of tight turns and dodges that spoke of a professional pilot. Superman dove into the fray and was immediately sent back out again. Batman was a good pilot. He knew it, the alien behind him knew it, and they both knew that they couldn't keep it up forever.

Just as the thought was making itself known, they managed to land a hit. It avoided the fuel tanks by mere luck, sending the entire wing off, the jet falling into a death spiral as Batman wrestled with the controls. He knew they were unlikely to make it out alive. In what he figured would be his last thoughts he found himself regretting that he would have to break his promise, and hoping the Tumbler was in one piece. He had liked that vehicle.

A moment later and their fall was forcefully stopped. "What happened?"

"Help has arrived."

Batman followed the glow that surrounded the jet up to where a man was standing, on one of the higher mountain ledges, a man he recognized instantly. John Stewart, the Green Lantern. Another person came swooping in; this one with wings and a black and brown feathered mask, Bruce Wayne recognized her under his guise of Batman and immediately found himself saying her name. "Hawkgirl? What's _she_ doing here?"

J'onn didn't reply as he phased through the ship, joining Superman and the Green Lantern, Hawkgirl taking out the alien ships easily and effectively. The jet was lowered to the ground and Batman climbed out, finding himself desperately wishing that he could fly. Everything would be so much easier if he could actually fly rather than glide. He needed a better jet. He watched the aerial battle with something like awe, a small part of him unable to believe what he was seeing. These beings were so much more powerful than him, he knew it, but he could never let them know it. This cemented everything for him. They must never learn who he really was. Not if he was going to be of any help.

Batman dove out of the way of a crashing ship, watching as Hawkgirl was hit, falling to the ground, the yellow and green clad warrior with flaming orange hair glaring up as the ship that hit her turned, focused on her. A moment later and someone came in who was definitely not expected. He had never seen her before and he knew that he would have remembered if he had. Tall, black hair flowing, with a golden tiara, silver bracers and what looked like a red blue and gold leotard, red and white boots and a golden lasso, the woman had the figure of a goddess and the poise of one as well. He watched as she deflected each laser blast sent her way, rebounding them back to the ship to destroy it.

It didn't work out exactly as planned. She forgot one of the essential Newton's laws. An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an opposite force. The opposite force was provided by Green Lantern's ring, destroying the ship and shielding the two females who remained on the stone outcropping.

Just like that the battle was over and Batman heard a familiar whistling noise, just as Flash appeared beside him, holding the wing of the fighter jet. "Hey, this dropped back there, I was wondering if this belonged to…whoa…" The smile dropped as he caught sight of the man looking at him, blinking rapidly behind the white lenses the mouth pulled itself into a frown. "B-Batman? You exist?"

"Yes. And that would be mine."

"…Oh! Dang, you really don't mess around when it comes to appearances. The white lens idea was mine though, I thought of it first. Maybe I should charge you for it…" He put his hand to his chin, holding the wing gingerly, and then freezing as Batman took a step towards him, looking at him silently and with waves of hostility pouring off of him. "Or not…" It was then that he caught sight of the newcomer, his eyes widened and he handed the wing over to Batman. "Where have you been all my life?"

"Themyscira…"

"…Huh?"

Batman however recognized the name, having passed it over in some of his reading. The Island of the Amazons.

"The home of the Amazons." Hawkgirl landed with the rest walking forward. "I had heard of it, but I thought it was only a myth."

"I assure you it's as real as the ground on which we stand. I am Diana, Princess of the Amazons." She smiled at them, a smile that spoke of beauty and charm.

"Pinch me I must be dreaming…" Flash spoke softly, Superman elbowing him before Bruce could whack him over the head with the wing of the ship.

"Themyscira is protected by the gods, but I could not stand by and watch as the rest of the world was put in danger."

"It was lucky you showed up when you did." Superman finally stated, nodding to her.

"No, not luck, I telepathically summoned them." Batman was really beginning to hate telepaths.

"Look, I'm usually pretty quick on the uptake, but would someone please tell me what the heck is going on here?" Flash asked finally.

Batman actually found himself concurring. He truly hoped that it would be a once in a lifetime thing.


	7. Never

Batman waited patiently as Superman used his heat vision to weld the wing back onto the jet. "You know, I've been meaning to ask you. How did you get the jet?"

"I borrowed it."

They looked at the dark man standing there, John reflecting on just how creepy the man was before turning his attention back to J'onn.

"So, you came from Mars to warn us?" Diana asked finally.

"This is just too weird," the Flash quipped.

"I've seen stranger." John stated, gaining the speedster's attention.

Batman listened quietly as J'onn explained how one thousand years ago, Mars was a prosperous civilization, living in peace. How he had had a family that he loved very much. Then he spoke of 'them', aliens that came to take over the planet. Just as on Earth, no one knew where they came from, they destroyed without mercy, killing all who stood in their path. The Martians had no weapons when they first started. Yet they learned.

They were wiped out slowly. Their peaceful and wonderful society blackened, destroyed during centuries of war. They were too strong and they fed on their psychic energy, using it for their own. They finally absorbed the Martians shape changing abilities. The final battle took the use of guerilla techniques. A small force was all that remained of the once grand people. They invaded the stronghold of the invaders, using a nerve gas to paralyze them. It ended in the only way Batman thought it could. Tragedy.

J'onn was the last survivor, the last of his kind. He sealed their citadel, and for over five hundred years stood guard. For five hundred years he successfully kept others away, when during a hibernation cycle, astronauts from Earth found the citadel, and opened it. The Invaders were revived.

"Wait, those astronauts never said anything about finding life on Mars." Flash spoke up then, Batman barely glancing at him, John stepping in to fill in a reason.

"Some pencil pusher in Washington must have declared it classified information."

"With all the Martians gone, the Invaders had nothing else to feed upon. They turned their sights to Earth. I narrowly escaped and came to warn of the coming danger. While I was captured, the Invaders sent an advanced guard to disable Earth's defenses."

"That's why they sabotaged the Deep Space Monitoring Network." Batman found himself commenting. "So we couldn't spot their activities."

"How did you know that?" John asked immediately, focusing on Batman.

"He knows lots of things," Superman filled in with a smirk.

"Hmm, it doesn't matter; we've got to stop them before it's too late." John's eyes glinted, the ring glowing.

"It may already be too late." So saying, J'onn turned and walked away, staring off into the distance.

….

Rachel and Harvey stood watching the television before them, hands clasped tightly as they watched Snapper Carr report from Metropolis. The tripods that had been dubbed 'Alien Walkers' were behind them; the military stationed protectively, the Tumbler idling to the side of the other tanks. They listened as the situation was described, watching quietly, finding themselves leaning progressively closer as things were made clear.

"You know… I take it back." The camera focused on the crater as the thing trembled.

"Take what back?" The rock split, something growing from inside it, something black that spewed out foul smoke.

"I don't really think one man can make that much of a difference." It grew and grew, protrusions elongating from the back of the strange machine.

"But it's like you said, just look at Batman…" Red light burst from the protrusions in beams that shot into the sky.

"Batman's going to reach his limit as well. Superman can't protect us from this. I don't think Batman can either. Gotham isn't an island. Soon those things will be here. Batman will eventually fall. He can't win forever." The smoke turned to a storm, lightning and thunder boiling as clouds continued to grow.

"I think he can." The storm spread.

"But just look at this, look at all of this. You really think that Batman and the rest can win?" The night sky was covered.

"The night is always darkest just before the dawn. I believe they can do it. They have to. Have faith in Superman, have faith in Batman, have faith in them. Have faith in me." She kissed him.

…

The heroes looked out over the valley, their eyes locked on the rolling clouds and lightning.

"What _is_ that?" Flash asked.

"It's starting." J'onn answered.

"What are they doing?"

"The Invaders are nocturnal; they are blotting out the sun so they may live in eternal darkness." J'onn watched the darkness as it came.

"Friends of yours?" Flash asked Batman pointedly.

"It's no joke." Three word that were given such weight and darkness that Flash backed up, yet he wasn't done.

"So what's the problem? Can't you just whip up another batch of that nerve gas?"

"Unfortunately, no, the gas can only be made by a rare Martian plant. I brought a sample with me, but it was destroyed when I was captured." J'onn looked to the ground, Flash frowning.

"What's plan B, then?" Batman decided he had to give Flash something. He was eternally stupid.

"We'll have to take down those factories." Diana placed her hands on her hips, her poise as always regal.

"Lady, this is no job for amateurs." John glared at her.

"We Amazons are warriors born!" Diana exclaimed, turning her full focus on the man beside her, sparking with dislike. "Want to test me?" She bit out the question in a way that was as much challenging as it was hateful. John squared up to her, only to have the contest broken up by Superman.

"Let's not fight among ourselves." Superman finally placed a hand on John's shoulder. "John, we're going to need all the help we can get."

The Lantern sighed. "Fine. Sorry, your Highness. Tactics. We'll have multiple objectives, so we'll need to split into teams."

Flash zipped over to Diana before anyone could truly cognate. "Dibs on the Amazon!"

Batman watched as Diana's eyes widened, her entire expression screaming for help. He took an immediate step forward, once again locking eyes with Flash. "No."

"Okay, whatever you say." He zipped out of the way immediately, John taking the time to make the proper teams. He placed Diana with Batman almost instantly. Their goal was Egypt.

In the jet he didn't have to worry about anything, he could easily ignore the Amazon princess as she flew beside and a little behind him, following his lead. Yet when they landed a fair distance away and he began to quietly lead her towards the heart of the storm, he realized that he might be in a heap of trouble. It was only as he stared out, trying to get a fix on their weaknesses, that Diana finally spoke.

"Hiding like cowards is not the Amazon way!" She put her hands on her hips while Batman completely ignored her, leaning out farther as he examined the tall storm maker.

"It must have a weak spot, Princess. When we find it, we'll strike." They were waiting for J'onn, a moment later he phased through the ground in front of them.

"I have scouted the outer walls. There are no openings."

"Then we'll make our own!" The Princess lifted her chin and flew, J'onn moving to follow. Batman placed a restraining hand on him, his eyes trained on Diana.

"Wait; let's see what she can do."

They watched calmly as she flew towards the Alien Walker standing guard, her lasso sent out to wrap around one of its legs, flying around it multiple times before pulling tight. They watched as the machine collapsed under its own weight, tearing a hole through the wall, making the entrance for them. She stood on it with her hand on her hip.

"There's your opening." So saying, she flew into it.

"Not bad." Batman finally spoke, pulling out his grappling gun and taking aim as J'onn flew after her.

They found her blocking shot after shot, the aliens running from her finally, covering their heads as they did so, she yelled at them from over her shoulder. "What are you waiting for, they run like cowards!" She ran then, J'onn flying after her immediately. Batman paused, looking at the light, remembering the way one had scrambled to avoid it.

He followed after them, remaining in the shadows and ever watchful, letting the both of them test the limits of the Invaders. He knew he would never match them should he go one on one. He needed to go about this in other ways. The explosive batarangs were turning out to be a very good idea. He was honestly very glad he had thought of them, and had brought the idea up with Fox.

Diana was forced to back up, blocking the blasts. "They block us out again!"

Batman had noticed. He had been considering that, remembering the story that the Martian had told them. How they could steal their abilities. He wondered. "It's almost like they know what we are thinking." Another exploding batarang. He would need to make more. "Any ideas, J'onn. J'onn?" He turned, examining the way the alien's eyes had brightened, likening it to the telepathic ability. The next instant he knew his hypothesis was the truth.

"Superman and Hawkgirl are down. They have failed."

"What? Are you sure?" Diana asked, her expression worried.

"Yes, I can sense it." J'onn answered quietly, and then pointed to yet another side passage. The entire inside of the thing seemed to be nothing but passages and corridors. It was a maze. "This way, hurry!"

Batman saw the passage they had just enter seal shut behind them. They ran. Batman was getting tired of running. He needed to find a way to push the odds in their favor. He needed to prove to himself that he could do this. He had saved a city. Now he needed to save the world. Diana returned from where she had been watching. "We lost them!"

"For the moment." Batman confirmed quietly, pulling something else from his belt. The brass knuckles were also a new invention; the way they sparked with electricity when he gripped it tighter was immensely satisfying. He had a plan. The only thing he needed to do was execute it. He would need the Martians help.

"Look." J'onn spoke finally and they turned to regard what he was pointing at. "It's the central core." The red glowing orb in the center of two tendrils caught Batman's attention immediately, almost over the mass of Invaders that were stationed in cubicle like segments.

"How do we shut it down?" Batman asked immediately.

"The ion crystal. If we remove that, we'll shut down the whole plant. I'll need a diversion."

"You've got it." Batman threw a batarang, slicing through one of the tendrils over two of the aliens. It split immediately, pouring a black oil like substance over them. Diana immediately began helping, pulling another and splitting it from its anchor on the wall, sparks sent flying everywhere as black smoke poured in. J'onn phased through the ground as shots rang out. Diana began deflecting, and Batman dove down. His cape stretched out, memory cloth acting as a parachute, slowing his fall and turning his descent into the stuff of nightmares.

Apparently, aliens had similar nightmares. It hesitated. The hesitation was all Batman needed to ram his fist into him. He honestly didn't know what he was doing, not truly, but he made a tentative call towards the Martian when he had a spare moment. Almost immediately he felt the others presence, questioning. He tossed his hypothesis, mentioning the sun, their nocturnal tendencies, and then a plan. He felt his mind being shielded, much better than anything he could have done, and they moved.

J'onn managed to remove the ion crystal; the immediate destruction caused making the room even more chaotic than it was. Invaders ran to and fro, until J'onn was shot, the crystal falling to the ground along with him. Diana shouted his name, knocking the aliens attacking her out of the way, flying to his side. Batman's shout of, "Get him out of here!" made her pick him up and fly out.

He launched the grapple again, swinging forward, grasping the ion crystal and running after them. He could have made it. But it wasn't part of the plan. Batman punched the opening, sparks flying and finally turned around, locking eyes with the aliens that stood before him. He threw the ion crystal to the ground. They fired, yet as they fired, Batman dove out of the way, dropping a smoke pellet as they concentrated their fire on where he had been standing. None of them acted too suspicious at the way he apparently vanished.

It was working. J'onn was masking his presence. Now to get out.

…..

He waited until they were all brought into where the Martian said they would be, back in Metropolis, where everything started. They all seemed to want to taunt Superman. These aliens in particular that had used him to their own ends relished in it. Batman remained in a hidden position. While he trusted J'onn to keep him hidden, if only for Earth's safety, he didn't want to risk anything. When they were finally brought into the central hub of the machine, he waited, watching quietly as they were restrained. When they finally woke.

"You shouldn't have come for us." Trust it to the Boy Scout to forget that that was what they did. Even without the plan they would have. He watched as the aliens made their confrontation, one of them turning into Senator Carter, the man behind the disarmament of Earth policy.

He had expected that, but he knew that Superman was taking it hard, he could see it. The taunts cut deeply. He figured there were other reasons behind Superman's worn appearance. The lack of sunlight for days on end before this fight might have had something to do with it. Batman watched as an opening appeared over their heads, a spaceship slowly lowering into it. They were silent, staring at it as the spaceship opened and more poured out, the Imperium, the Invaders leader, slowly lowering down.

It looked like a jellyfish almost. A large, mutated, purplish and evil jellyfish. Alfred was never going to believe any of this when he told him. Neither was Rachel. He listened as the Imperium turned its taunts to J'onn, the alien having reverted to his usual appearance, the thing locking him in place slowly rising him up to stare into the Imperium directly. He watched as tentacles inserted their way into his flesh, creeping their way into his body, listened to the Martian screaming, his teeth grinding as he forced himself to wait. For all of their attention to turn to the Martian. For the signal.

It was all he could do not to blow it all sky high immediately. He let J'onn taunt the thing, listened as it asked what he was hiding. He took his immediate cue when J'onn shifted his shape back into his humanoid appearance, shouting, "Batman, now!"

He set the charge. The explosion blew a chunk out of the membrane keeping the ion crystal encased. He further armed the device in his hand and shoved it into the membrane. The red was overtaken by blue, the light changing from dark and oppressive into something lighter, before closing the membrane yet again.

"What have you done?" Carter asked frantically.

"Reversed the ion charge." Batman answered.

"The crystal, destroy it!" The Imperium's response was automatic. Batman shot his grapple, flying out of the way as they fired.

"The crystal…it's shielded!"

He swung across the central hub, ignoring the blue beam that shot into the sky, the clouds slowly beginning to part. Watching as the sunlight finally filled the hole the Invaders had so thoughtfully provided. They all watched as J'onn forced his way out of the Imperium, dragging him into the light.

"You hide underground, you shun the light. Why, does it burn your pale, putrid skin?" It bubbled and boiled as the sunlight touched it, much like the rest of them, slowly melting. The Flash made another inane comment.

"Ultraviolet rays. Coming from the depths of space, the invaders have no defense against our suns natural radiation." He landed on the platform keeping them locked in place, setting to work on freeing the one nearest to him, which turned out to be Diana. Superman stared at the light, welcoming it, letting it soak into him, soothing the ache that had started so long ago. His heat vision was back. He used it immediately, freeing himself from his prison.

"So you did find their weakness after all." Diana finally smiled, yanking her arm out as he managed to burn his way through the material imprisoning it using his hand-held laser.

"Destroy them!" The Imperium spat out. They immediately started firing, Diana shielding the back of his head from a blast with her bracer. Superman landed on the main platform, ripping the upper layer from the lower he turned it into a makeshift shield, blocking their fire. Batman went back to work. Superman turned and aided him, releasing Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, Diana breaking the restraints on the Flash's legs as soon as she was free. Just like that the heroes rallied, Flash zipping off and disarming them left and right, while Hawkgirl flew into the air, charging in swinging her mace, splitting them left and right.

Green Lantern imprisoned and trapped them, Superman opening up new areas where the sun could get through, Diana joining him, Green Lantern soon following.

J'onn desperately tried to hold the Imperium in its place, letting it be burned by the sunlight, melting slowly but surely. The tendril inside him proved to be his undoing. It slid further up under his skin, finally wrapping around his head, shocking him. He yelled in pain, releasing his hold, the Imperium backing away, back to its ship.

The alien who had impersonated Carter clung to him, shouting at him to wait, the knowledge that as soon as the ship moved they would lose that shadow and die making him desperate. He was shoved out of the way, reverting to his true form before melting in the sun.

Diana watched the ship attempt to rise, using her lasso to latch around one of the natural projectiles on the ship, pulling it back. Superman went to J'onn's aid, shielding him, the sun providing him with the power to take the laser blasts, something he hadn't been able to do as the sun remained behind the clouds. He used his own laser vision to cut a hole in the wall behind the aliens, bathing them with sunlight.

The ship was better defended than Diana had expected, firing a laser at her that she was forced to deflect, letting go of her lasso in the process. Hawkgirl rallied in return, flying up in front of it and cracking it with her mace, Diana flying up as well, once again wrenching the ship down, away from the mother ship. Hawkgirl pounded on it with her mace, over and over and over, finally sending it crashing down into the already damaged machine. Batman felt the shadow before he was grasped by Flash, and the both of them were out of the way before he had time to truly worry.

"You alright Bats?" Batman had managed to destroy several of them, throwing the last of his exploding batarangs at the walls, blowing more holes into them.

"I'm fine." In truth, the scratches from the dog had begun to burn. Worse than they had. He was aware of the fact that he had been losing blood. He would be alright.

"Good. It'd suck to lose you again." The comment was surprising, yet before he could comment there was a further explosion. "Maybe we should get outta here!"

"Not without them!" Superman indicated yet more people trapped in the pods, slicing the things open with his laser vision. "Flash, help me with them!"

Batman watched as the Speedster recoiled at the slime coating them, listening to Superman's chastising and watching as the Flash ran off. Hawkgirl flew overhead, yelling to be heard. "This whole place is going to blow!"

Flash and Superman managed to get them into a group, Green Lantern coming down to hover. "Everyone stay close!" They were encased and lifted, Superman grabbing Flash while Diana grasped Batman's hands tightly, lifting the ones that couldn't fly out. They cleared it just before the monstrosity blew. The mothership flew off and finally, the clouds began to dissipate fully. They watched from one of the highest rooftops, minds at peace, feeling themselves wind down slowly.

It was over.

Batman pulled the signal watch from his belt calmly, handing it over to the Man of Steel who hesitated before accepting it.

"So I take it this means you're going back to Gotham?"

"Yes, I've been away too long. My city reacts to fear of such a thing by turning into a bigger monster. I need to go back, see if it's salvageable."

"I'm sure it can't be that bad, Bats, will you at least help us clean up fully? It is still daylight after all, that's not exactly when you're reputed to work…" Flash pressed.

"Metropolis needs a hero, Gotham needs a keeper. Besides, I have a report to make."

"A report? To who?"

"Not my place to tell."

"Alright then. You know what. Keep the watch. Just in case, alright? Judging from this adventure you won't need our help, but you never know, right?" He handed the watch back with a smile, something that Batman finally reluctantly took. It was then that he seemed to deflate slightly. "You know, I was wrong. I once thought I could protect the world by myself, but it's obviously not true. Together…together I think we might be able to do it. As a team."

"What you mean as a Super Friends kinda thing?" Flash asked with a smirk.

"No…more of a Justice League."

"Do you have any idea how corny that sounds?" Flash asked, turning to look at him fully. "But…the big guy might have a point. With all of us behind it, it just might work… Count me in."

John was the next one to step forward. "Me too."

Hawkgirl walked forward then, placing her hand on theirs with a smile. "And me."

Diana hesitated. "My mother may not approve, but I find Man's world to be fascinating. I would gladly join." Her hand joined theirs. J'onn watched silently, finally noticing the way Batman was looking at him.

"You should join, too."

"I'm sorry?"

"I can't join; I have too many things that I need to do. But they need someone on the team to keep a level head. Besides, if there's anyone who can help you learn how to live on Earth it's them. The Kryptonian in particular. He might understand things a bit more than you realize. I have to go. Among other things, I'm really not a people person."

"Keep in touch, alright Bats?" Flash prodded with a wide smile.

"Yeah, it was fun. In a we're all going to die kinda way." John added with a smirk.

"…Right."

The laughter that followed was loud and slightly hysterical, Batman and J'onn trading significant glances.

It was then that they heard a loud roaring sound. Batman walked to the edge and looked down. There was the Tumbler, the blond haired jet-pilot he had given it to standing up from the cockpit.

"Where's my jet!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs. The rest of the superheroes stared at Batman as he smirked and dove off the building. They jerked forward, watching as he spread his 'wings' at the last moment, slowing his fall exponentially and letting him land in front of the man easily, who immediately jerked backwards. Even in the sunlight he seemed to attract whatever shadows there were.

"On the outskirts of Metropolis, if you want I'll take you to it."

"Is it in one piece?" The man asked, green eyes glinting.

"It is now."

"You know, they say you don't exist."

"Similar people have also said that there's no life on Mars." Flash stated, having run down the building in order to get there.

"Don't remind me, man alive do I need a vacation after this one…" The jet-pilot sighed, slumping heavily and running a hand through his hair.

The heroes landed around him, gathered in a semi-circle surrounding the two men standing there, the air force pilot staring at them all with wide eyes. Superman found himself laughing.

"Don't we all?"

….

Bruce Wayne threw the cowl haphazardly across the room, stripping from his costume quickly and efficiently. He paused in the removal of his Kevlar shirt when Alfred and Rachel entered the bunker quietly, their eyes wide as they focused on him. He was unprepared for when they rushed to him, grasping him up in equally tight hugs from either side.

"You're alive, you're alive…" Rachel whispered over and over again, her head burrowing into his shoulder as she cried.

"Thank the Lord, sir, you're alive." Alfred did not cry, did not do much more than hug him tightly and then back away, grasping the medical kit and turning to regard him. "You will let me tend to your wounds, sir." There was no question in his voice and Bruce found himself laughing, his own hysteria bubbling to the surface, finally nodding and falling into his chair.

He was getting tired of the stickiness of dried blood across his chest.

It was only later as he was watching the news that something else occurred to him. Something else that worried him and made him tighten his fingers and feverishly plan.

Lucius Fox was waiting for him when he returned to his office later, stiff, and with multiple bandages around his chest, but with no lasting damage.

"Mr. Fox, what do you think it would take to build a Watchtower?"

"Well, Mr. Wayne, I'd say it depends on where you want to put it, and what exactly you want to watch…" Fox answered automatically. "If you plan to put it on the beach or in the middle of the park…"

"Actually, I meant more along the lines of a satellite Watchtower, one that would orbit around Earth and provide a means of defense should it become necessary."

Lucius Fox paused, raising an eyebrow at the man before him and finally smiling. "You know, I'm glad you're still alive, if only for giving me the most wonderful problems to solve. Lasers? Heavy shielding?"

"Unnecessary, what I'm planning to use it for is more for a warning. We don't need that. A few of them can breathe in space anyway."

"Can Batman?"

"Of course, Batman can totally breathe in space."

The two of them laughed and Lucius stuck out his hand. "Seriously Mr. Wayne, I'm very glad you're still alive. Thank you for what you did."

"It was necessary."

"That it was doesn't mean I can't thank you. Now, about this tower, you have any specific designs you'd like to go for?"

"Naturally." They spent the next few days working out the plans and slipping the Watchtower plans into the budget in a line that no one would ever notice. The plans after the satellite was crafted were destroyed. The rest was a simple matter. It was launched in a secure location, an encryption in the area making the satellites send repeat footage, the satellite itself crafted for stealth. It would be able to keep out of the radar for four days. That was plenty of time to rally the 'Justice League'.

It was time to speak to them as Bruce Wayne. He piloted Lucius Fox up with him in the Javelin-7, one of the most highly advanced rockets ever crafted in the shape of a jet that could make a vertical launch, or a horizontal one if need be. Once there he set to straightening his business suit and making sure everything was perfectly presented. It was time to turn the lights on in the Watchtower.

Lucius Fox used the watch Bruce had given him, waiting for Superman to show up on the outskirts of Gotham. They were even more barren than the ones outside of Metropolis. As soon as he did he presented himself with a smile. "Superman, my name is Lucius Fox. I was hoping you and your team would come with me. My employer has something to show you."

"…Your…employer?"

"You were hoping for someone with pointy ears and a penchant for remaining in the shadows, right?" Lucius smiled at him with a raised eyebrow, Superman blinking before smiling in return.

"Well… Why not." From there it was a simple matter of having Superman call the rest of his team. They arrived relatively quickly, listening to the explanation before agreeing quietly. Lucius Fox was the type of person who radiated understanding and peacefulness. They highly doubted he was going to do anything nefarious. On the way up he explained the controls to a curious John and the rest of the team, Flash pointing at various buttons at high speed and asking what they would do when he pressed them.

"That one would eject you and send you flying off into space, I really wouldn't touch it." Flash froze with his finger over a particularly interesting button and backed away hurriedly, hiding behind Superman.

"That would suck!"

"Yep."

It was then that they saw it, reflecting the stars one moment they managed to find the proper angle to see it. The metallic surface gleamed, orange lights beckoning in the blackness of space, and they felt themselves freeze in shock.

"Wow…"

"Wait till you see what's inside it."


	8. Asks

The six heroes stood in the middle of the space station they had been brought to with nothing but awe coloring their features. They turned to talk to the man who had brought them there only to see him shake the hand of a man they had least expected while giving him the watch.

"Bruce…Bruce Wayne? What are you doing here, what is all this?" Superman took a step towards the man who turned to them with a wide smile.

"Well, 'all this' would be a space station. It's something we've loving named the Watchtower. Do you like it?"

"Like it? It's awesome! Man they weren't kidding when they said billionaires had weird retreats." The Flash burst out in shock, taking a step forward with an equally wide grin on his mouth. "I haven't seen you in forever! How you been? What are you doing here?" He offered his hand for a handshake that was grasped easily.

"Well, strictly speaking I'm here on business. I would like to talk to all of you and I figured bringing you here would be the best way to catch your attention…"

"Business?" John asked, catching onto the word immediately. "What kind of business, Mr. Wayne? And just how did you get that watch? You can't possibly be Batman."

The immediate burst of laughter that followed that question made them tense. "Me? Batman? Oh God no, it's all just business, as for the watch, the answer to that will come in time." He waved the comment away only to notice the way Superman was tensing slightly and blinked. "What? I'm getting to it; I have a pattern to these things that I like to follow. That's all, I don't know all of you and I believe it would be a good idea to have a few introductions made. I swear, it's just something of a routine for me, and I believe most people do business better when they know each other, yes? I…oh, _oh_, you can't possibly have spent enough time around Luther to believe that all billionaires that express interest in the superhero community are like that, can you?" His expression slid into something bordering disbelief, an eyebrow rising in question. The Man of Steel relaxed slowly, remembering what he had been like the last time he met him.

"Well, it is certainly possible."

"Then I apologize, truly. I don't mean to make you feel…well, I suppose I would be overestimating myself when I use the term 'nervous', so I'll stop that sentence and save whatever grace I have remaining." He smiled at him widely. "Besides, you saved my life, swearing revenge would be a poor way to repay that, yes?"

"It's happened before." The smile spread and he cleared his throat. "But you do make a valid point; I can see that you've met the Flash, but what about the rest of them?"

"Oh, I know them by second-hand accounts, but that's certainly not the same thing." Wayne directed his attention to the others, polite interest gracing his features.

"No it's not, anyway, this woman to my left is Shayera Hol, I'm sure you have heard of her as Hawkgirl?"

"The wings gave it away, if you don't mind me saying. They're really quite lovely." That same smile that had come to be synonymous with the playboy he was slowly gaining fame as was sent her way. Hawkgirl returned the smile.

"Thank you, you're not that bad yourself." She shook his hand as it was offered. She was teasing; something Bruce recognized automatically, a smirk slowly spreading as she offered something else. "Your eyes are rather interesting. Do they change color often?"

Bruce laughed, "Only in certain types of lighting. Why are they an odd color now?"

"They're a very interesting shade of green. I remembered them to be brown last time I saw you." She smiled at him, the eyes in the mask fixing him with a look that most men would have run from.

"You pay that much attention?" He countered with a smile that made her ease up on the look.

"You're not that bad to look at." She smirked herself then, the rest of the League staring between them with a raised eyebrow from John's half and the rest an easy roll of the eyes. All except for the woman standing to Superman's right.

"Well thank you. I'm afraid it's mostly genetics. Not much of my say so in the matter, but I use it as well as I can. To be perfectly honest the first thing about you I noticed was the hair."

"Really?" She blinked in surprise, straightening up slightly.

"Yes, you have the most beautiful hair."

"Most people from Earth notice the wings."

"Well, I noticed them as well, it's very hard not to, but it was the hair that captivated me."

"Alright, break it up Romeo." John finally intervened, rolling his eyes as he stepped in-between them.

"And you must be the Green Lantern, from what I heard you don't mind people calling you John Stewart?" Just like that he won the mini-war, if only for throwing Shayera as far off balance as he did the man he was addressing.

"…No, no I don't."

"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Stewart. Thank you very much for what you did to save the Earth."

"Why did you not thank her as well?"

The smile tamed as his attention turned to the woman on Superman's right, the one who had spoken. She had her arms crossed as she stared down at the shorter man, who was still tall by most standards. Flash felt his heart stop.

"I believe you're Wonder Woman, yes?" Bruce asked the question as a way to gain thinking time, John noticed, hazel eyes reflecting a look of quiet consideration.

"That is what they call me, Mr. Wayne, now please, will you answer my question?" She planted her feet a space apart, her hands falling to her hips in a pose that worried all of them.

Bruce paused, examining her eyes calmly before smiling. "First of all, you have beautiful eyes, has anyone ever told you that?" Superman flinched.

She flared, only to have a hand raised in pacification. "Let me finish. I understand that you come from an island of women, yes? You are an Amazon?"

"Yes. Princess of the Amazons."

"Oh, so you're royalty as well, that's two things you have against me… My guess is you also view most men as pigs, am I right?"

She hesitated before finally giving another affirmation.

"And you're honest. Well, I believe that there are a few examples of this where I would agree with you. Men have the potential to be pigs, but in my case and personal defense, there is a bit more to it than that, or at least how I see it." Shayera found herself legitimately worried for him. How could every word from his mouth be so…dangerous?

"Oh? You deny the fact that women have been dominated and abused by the male population?"

"Most definitely not, women have definitely been forced into some very low positions." The shock on her face was evident. So was the expression on most of theirs. "Prostitution is seen as something most women have to fall back on in order to survive. They used to force women into the most terrible torture devices under the form of fashion. Corsets for example, stacks of necklaces that would detach bones of the neck should one of them be removed and therefore a cruel method of punishment. The Chinese used to bind their young girl's feet so they were horribly deformed. These methods were very much barbaric and cruel, but in all things there is a reason."

"And what reason would that be?"

"Men are _terrified _of women. No, don't give me that look, it's very much true. Most of these methods were to keep women from rising up and taking over the world. Fear can do terrible things to people; some men just aren't able to take such things properly, and it is a terrible thing. It's why the Wayne Foundation works diligently to keep women out of prostitution rings, at least in Gotham. As for myself, I have a different method for coping with said fear. I flatter the living daylights out of them and hope that if I pour enough honey over my words they won't come back to hit me." He smirked at her gently, a look she tilted her head at, obviously considering. "As both of the females in this group can squash me flat on a whim, you can probably understand why I'm doing my best to keep you, at the very least, entertained. I'm sorry if this method offends you, or if my supposed behavior does. I swear to you, most of it is exaggeration. It's getting to the point where I can't even smile at someone without having the media say that I'm going to date them."

Wonder Woman blinked, before slowly smiling, noticing the genuine disgust that flashed across his face. "So would you say that women aren't the only ones that are stigmatized?" They were in shock. She was actually joking back.

He blinked before flashing one of those blinding smiles. "Of course not, we billionaires with more money to their name than some small countries are definitely horribly abused."

The smile softened slightly. "I have heard of the charities that you've been creating towards protecting women's rights."

"Hey, that's not all he's been doing on that front, you should have seen the guy, he actually got punched in the gut for one." Flash zipped into the conversation immediately, an arm going around Bruce's shoulders in a congratulatory move.

"Really?" Diana looked honestly impressed and the League breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"It was nothing, the guy was a bastard, he needed to see that he can't be so controlling. Speaking of which, how is she, and is her husband still in jail?"

"She's fine, her husband is now her ex, and yep, still happily confined. She filed for abuse charges on top of disreputable conduct."

"Good for her, very good for her, now…where…ah, there you are! I swear, you're extremely hard to spot, which honestly should not be the case. Maybe I need glasses…" He waved the one he was looking at closer, the alien standing there moving rather hesitantly away from the wall he had inconspicuously stationed himself beside. "You're Mr. J'onn Jones, is that correct?"

J'onn contemplated for a moment before nodding. "Yes, that is correct."

"Good. Mr. Jones I wanted to thank you for coming to Earth to warn us. Even though that really didn't go over all that well, I truly wish to apologize for that. I…also am really sorry about your family."

J'onn hesitated, blinking. He had envisioned all sorts of scenarios when someone from Earth talked to him. None of them was Bruce Wayne, standing in front of him with his hands in his pockets and slightly hunched posture, looking at him with a mixture of sympathy and understanding in his eyes that he thought he would never see from this culture. "…Thank you, very much."

"Yes, well…my parents were killed when I was very young, had just turned six, actually. I know I didn't know them as well as you likely knew yours, but I can certainly understand missing them."

"I am sorry for your loss."

"It's fine. It happened a long time ago. I can't really say that I've gotten used to it… To this day I wonder about how if things had gone differently… Listen to me, going off on my loss when you also lost your entire species. I'm sorry about that; you don't deserve that sort of thing. Thank you for helping to make sure humanity wasn't wiped off the face of the Earth. That said, I do hope that you can eventually see Earth as your home. _I'd _like to have you see it as such, at least. I suppose I can't speak for the rest of my species, but so it is."

J'onn found himself returning the smile he was given, if only slightly, reaching out to shake the hand that was offered. "Thank you, your words are truly kind. I wish for that as well."

Bruce nodded smiling gently before clapping his hands together as soon as his hand was released. "Now, we all know each other, and now we can get down to business. How would you guys like the Watchtower?"

"_What_?" The question was loud, immediate, and made Bruce cover his ears, jolting back from five loud exclamations.

"Calm down people, it's not like I offered you a home on the moon, just an orbiting space station!" He finally shouted out, slowly moving his hands down from where they hovered near his ears protectively.

"'Just an orbiting space station', the media pegged you for eccentric, but this is crazy!" Flash burst out.

"Hold on, just, listen to our side of things quickly, there's absolutely no need for calling anyone crazy." Superman gave Flash a look which made him straighten up slightly. "While you're right that you aren't Lex Luther, you are still a civilian that is…well, offering us something we could never pay you back for. This is something that most people would never do without a catch. I would like to trust you, but I don't know you. I also don't know why you would be offering us this space station."

Bruce nodded slowly and replied quietly. "You make a few very good points. However, you also don't know my reasons. I'm not interested in your money to reimburse me. God knows I have enough of my own and as this station makes its own power, you don't have anything to worry about in terms of electricity bills. This station does not come equipped with any weapons, there are no lasers pointing down at Earth or anything else that people would see as threatening. That's not why it's here. As I said, it's the _Watch_tower. It's made to watch and provide a line of defense between possible attackers from out there." As he said this he indicated the wide blackness of space around them. "You've saved us from one attack. This is a bit of insurance against another. I've seen some of what you did to save the Earth, sacrificing your very wellbeing in order to make sure it survived. I think I can trust you to do the same again. This will merely make it a bit more obvious what you intend to do should another attack come. In a way, that's the only catch. You have the boring job of watching and waiting for invading forces. Other than that…it's yours. Would you like a tour in order to make your decision, or have I sold you on the idea? Heck, would you like a tour anyway?"

They stared at him, his wide smile slowly fading as they didn't react before finally clearing his throat and taking a slow step back. "You know, he really wasn't that honest." He mumbled the comment to himself, immediately making the Man of Steel take notice.

"Who wasn't?" Superman asked immediately.

"Huh? Oh! Um, Batman, of course."

"So that's how you got the watch. You've spoken to him, what's the story here, Wayne?" John asked, focused on getting the answer to his question.

"Spoken to him? I would think I've done a bit more than that… I'm funding him!" Bruce rolled his eyes at the question, not noticing how each of them tensed up and stared at him like he had grown two heads.

"What?!"

"You guys seem to say that a lot…"

"No, really – how can you be? Why?"

Bruce paused and sighed. "Look, this was supposed to be a simple yes or no operation. I suppose I threw way too much information to you at once. Just…think about it. I can't be here for long, if you do decide that you want this then I can't be seen here. It would put Wayne Enterprises and possibly myself in danger. To be honest not all of my company knows about this space station, so I'm sure you can see the issue."

"Wait, you fund Batman, why? I mean, heck, why do this for any of us at all?" John asked.

Bruce looked John in the eye quietly. "There are very few things that I can profess to loving, Gotham is one of them. As I grew up I watched the city I loved crumble around me. My parents poured themselves, hearts and souls into Gotham city, often seeming to neglect remembering they had a small boy living under their roof who loved them more than the city. That city took them, killed them, and left me orphaned at the age of six to be raised by a butler that did his best, but could never replace the parents that still loved me greatly. I ran away at fourteen from the university I was attending and travelled the world, trying to find something that would replace what I had lost and would kill the love that I still felt for that city. I could never find it.

"I came home to a Gotham that had decayed beyond my comprehension or ability to cope with. So, once again I left. I couldn't take the thought of throwing myself into a city that wouldn't react. I can't be the symbol Gotham needs, and now that I've cemented my position as a bumbling if not charming playboy, I couldn't be it if I tried. But I found someone that could be the symbol that Gotham needs, could help drag it out of what it's become. He was anti-social, harsh, vicious, and in possession of absolutely no sense of humor, but he was also loyal, honest, and he possessed a similar drive. He merely didn't have the means to do anything. So…I decided to help, I've been funding him and supplying him with whatever needs he has since before he got started. He's not a hero; he's the start of something more, at least to Gotham. So, now you know. I can't tell you his name, what powers he has, or how to contact him, I would apologize, but I'm certain some of you understand secret identities. In fact, much like this Watchtower, you cannot tell anyone that I'm funding him, even if you choose to refuse this station. It would be more than just Batman that would take the fall. Are we clear?"

There was nothing more to say, so they merely nodded.

"Alright then, as for why I'm giving it to you, Batman told me you were trustworthy. I know he probably didn't come across as believing that, but he thought the more help I could give you the better you'd be. Not to mention he's content with the possibility of keeping you where he can pay attention. He's not opposed to helping you, as I'm sure you've noticed… I'll give you time to think about if you want the Tower or not. I can't wait past today, so you can walk around and get a feel for it. I'll be in the observatory room if you need me." With that he began to walk away from them, shoulders hunched as his hands were placed in his pockets, whatever amount of joviality vanished in what seemed like an instant.

The heroes paused, staring after him before looking at each other. "Damn…that…that's… Wow…" Flash was actually speechless.

"I believe I have severely misjudged him." Wonder Woman stood with her arms crossed quietly.

"I think we all might have." John sighed briefly before looking around at his surroundings once again, moving over to the window overlooking the Earth. "I'll tell you one thing; I really think I could get used to this view…"

They looked at each other quietly for a moment. "Take a look around, meet back here in a few minutes. We'll decide from there." Superman nodded to them and took off, the rest going in their own direction.

When they returned it was with a feeling of absolute amazement. They looked at each other for a moment, their expressions conveying their decision. It was unanimous, the sound of Flash sucking on a straw in an iced mocha punctuating it.

"Well…shall we apologize and then accept, or accept and then apologize?" Superman finally asked with a weak smile.

"Accept and then apologize. It is all just business, right?" John raised an eyebrow and they found themselves smiling in agreement.

Superman led them to the observation room, feeling the others freeze behind him at the sight before them. The Watchtower was orbiting at just the proper angle to view the sun as it slowly sank down behind the Earth, the large blue and green planet seeming to darken as the light left. The sight was beautiful, the just-visible sun peeking out behind it until it vanished fully. Bruce was leaning against the window, watching quietly a slight smile on his face. Superman had seen sights like that before, the sun vanishing as the sky was turned a multitude of oranges and reds, he didn't pause in his stride, Bruce turning to regard him as he got closer.

"We accept your offer. We would also like to apologize."

The smile widened, eyes glittered, and a hand was extended. "Excellent, I figured you would come around to it. Glad you did it so soon."

"Yeah, well, the iced mocha's definitely helped." Flash grinned at him, zipping forward to shake his hand before Superman reached out. Bruce blinked in slight surprise before smirking.

"They're good, aren't they?"

"Amazing."

"Once again, excellent.

"We really have no idea how to thank you properly; this place could even double as a home if we needed it."

"Actually…that is if you're really interested in thanking me, I kind of need a ride home? I sent Lucius back as soon as I could, he had a meeting to attend, and he kind of has the Javelin-7…"

"Well alright then, Mr. Wayne, I'll take you back. How would you like to find out what it's like to be in space without a suit?" John stepped forward with a grin, beginning to hover as his ring encased him in the eerie green glow that was its trademark.

"…That honestly sounds like a threat…" Bruce raised an eyebrow at him warily, taking a step behind Superman in what was more of a joke than honest fright.

John laughed and shook his head. "No, trust me; any other time I think I would agree with you, this time, I think you'll actually enjoy it."

The eyebrow stayed at its spot on the man's forehead for the entire trip home, encased in the green light from the lanterns ring, a smile on his face. They entered the Earth's atmosphere, Bruce almost reflexively tensing, John smiling at him. He handled it a lot better than most people and he had to admit he was impressed with how calm he was. Although considering Bruce was the one who employed a man as intimidating as Batman, maybe it made sense. There were more pressing matters on his mind, however.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask, how did the government not find out about this station, won't we be in danger of being seen?" John finally asked as they got closer to their destination in Gotham city, the shadows that clung to it once again providing cover for them.

"Nah, Batman's covering our tracks, has been the entire time**. **The Watchtower only recently launched a few hours ago from a secure location. Soon you can declare it your own, that you got through otherworldly means. Some of the technology did come from Superman, you know." They landed in an alley, the car in front of them taking up what little space there was.

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Batman again?"

"Naturally."

"Well, thank him for me." The tone implied that the thanks wasn't just for the security of the Watchtower, but included much more than that.

Bruce paused for a moment and gave him a look that he couldn't quite read. "I'll be sure to do that." With that he began walking to where his butler was waiting for him, car door held open and an expression of polite disinterest on his face.

"And Mister Wayne…Thank _you_ as well. This really wasn't anything like what I expected when I took the ring."

"No trouble at all. It was a pleasure doing business with you. The Javelin-7 is parked near what remains of my manor; you shouldn't have any trouble taking it back with you. No one's there to see. You did pay attention on how to pilot it, right?" Bruce smiled at him when he nodded and climbed into the car. Alfred nodded to the Green Lantern quietly before pulling out of the alley and driving away once making sure there were no prying eyes to see. As Gotham basically shut down at night, there was no one.

Unknown to John, as soon as the car was a safe distance away, Bruce got out, Alfred telling him he would have tea waiting when he got home. Batman entered the night of Gotham once again, standing on a rooftop. He watched the Lantern move to take off, before the man noticed something he had heard before, but would never hear again. The whipping of a cape in the wind, somehow more violent than Superman's, the sound altogether that much more intimidating, something that sent the hair on the back of his neck standing upright. He slowly turned around to meet the blank eyes of someone who was working to make Gotham new again. A task that John Stewart honestly didn't think he could do.

"Your boss is a nice guy."

"He's not my boss. He gives me the means and then he lets me do what must be done."

"No, I suppose he's not. I'm leaving the city now."

"I know."

"Just making sure, I remember what happened the last time. We would still like you to join. We think that you would make an excellent addition to the team."

"Gotham needs to be my priority."

"I can understand that. Do you think you'll ever want to join if you manage to get Gotham into a state where it can heal?"

Silence hung between them for a moment before Batman finally gave a reply.

"Yes."


	9. For

Jim Gordon rolled over from where he had been pushed to the ground; his head throbbing from what he knew was the crack from the butt of a gun, feeling his heart race in fear. He knew the man standing there, the one with a gun, the one who had captured his family. Harvey Dent stood quietly, looking over the remains of the warehouse Rachel Dawes had died in, the remains of the place where Gordon had _failed_. He knew it, as did the man standing with the unscarred part of his face in the light.

He remembered seeing what had happened to him the first time, the horror he had felt as well as the aching sympathy. Jim had finally been forced to reveal the man's nickname, a name he figured the one before him was now using with confidence. Two-Face. Two-faced politician, two-faced boyfriend, two-faced idiot. He had learned he was wrong slowly, mainly due to the visits he sometimes had with Bruce Wayne.

Since that day he gave the pearls to him he had been a known visitor to Wayne Manor. Alfred had often had the man over to watch Bruce when he was younger and had to be elsewhere whenever he had the chance. When Harvey had begun dating Rachel, Bruce had taken a special interest. He had found that Harvey was truly a very stand-up and commendable man and had given permission to date Rachel further. Bruce had then talked to Gordon and won him over to the man fully. They had become friends. Batman had been harder to win over, always slightly distrustful, but eventually seemed to tolerate the man. He had agreed to get Lau. He had answered the man's questions.

They had worked well together, a team, the White Knight and the Dark Knight, with Gordon somewhere in the middle. He knew he would never be a Knight. That was for them, he was a beat cop that had been given more power than he knew how to handle. Commissioner Gordon. The title still made him feel sick. Neither of them had the chance to be congratulatory, although the sight of Batman with a celebratory glass of champagne would have been a sight Gordon would have paid for. The Joker had more than seen to destroying every good thing that may have happened.

Joker had sent the city into a panic, killed dozens of people; threatened to blow up a hospital, _did_ blow up a hospital, and then driven Batman himself, someone who had just recently helped save the entire world, into desperately grasping at what remained of a plan to stop the mob. Then he had gone one step further, he had corrupted the best of them. Harvey Dent stood in front of him a man who was broken inside and out. A man who had been his friend and the truth stared him in the face.

_Harvey_ had killed those people. _Harvey_ had been the one to hunt down the people responsible for freeing the Joker, and then killed a cop, a cop that he had thought corrupt but hadn't had time to deal with. The mob had been more important to him; he had made the MCU as invulnerable to corruption as he could in such a short time. Batman had started something wonderful, but it seemed that he had also started something horrible. He just hoped the man would come. He didn't know how long he could stall. Harvey had captured his family and was threatening them with a gun. He feared the man he had considered a_ friend_ was too far gone.

Harvey kept his attention on the warehouse, staring at the destruction from the explosion, the explosion that had killed the woman he loved.

She had said yes… She had decided to marry him.

"This is where they brought her, after your people handed her over, Gordon. This is where she died." His voice was quiet, bitter, and Gordon flinched at the sound, his expression turning wary.

"I know…I was here, trying to save her." Jim kept his tone light, knowing that it was possible to set the man off at a wrong word or phrase. He knew the rules about dealing with a man teetering on the edge of sanity. What had the Joker said to him? Harvey had been the best of them, this was a fact that Gordon knew with every fiber of his being. How could he be doing this?

"But you didn't, did you?" He spat the words out, turning to face him, giving Gordon a decent look at what had happened to the man.

"I couldn't." Everything that had happened…

"Yes, you could." Harvey snarled, the burned half of his face turning the look into one of nightmares. Gordon would be seeing this moment in his nightmares for the rest of his life, his family huddled against a pillar and a madman with a gun, that had once been a friend, threatening murder. "If you'd listened to me – if you'd stood up to corruption instead of doing your deal with the devil." Gordon wondered what devil he was referring to and if he had ears and not horns…

"I was trying to fight the mob!" He was breaking the rules, becoming angry, yelling. Dent moved then, towards him, anger radiating from the broken man. "I'm sorry, Harvey, I'm sorry about Rachel, I tried, I did…"

"You wouldn't dare try and justify yourself to me if you knew what I'd lost! Have you ever had to talk to the person you love most, Gordon, all the while wondering if they're going to die as you listen helplessly?" Harvey turned his attention to the family huddled there, a mother clutching her children close helplessly, tears falling from her eyes. "You ever had to lie to that person? To tell them that it's going to be alright, when you know that it's not? Well…you're about to find out what that feels like. _Then_ you'll be able to look me in the eye and tell me you're sorry."

Gordon watched in horror as the man walked to his wife, to his son and his daughter, masking the emotion as best he could as his stomach tied itself into a knot, as his heart pounded and his palms started to sweat. Dent put the gun to his wife's temple, Barbara's expression turning terrified, her grip on her children tightening, the two of them burrowing closer. "Harvey, put the gun down… You're not going to hurt my family." His training needed to hold, he needed to calm him down, needed to get him to _think_. Dent wasn't like this, he wasn't, he couldn't be.

"No, just the person you need most." The gun was cocked with barely a moment's hesitation, and his attention turned back to the man he was tormenting. "So, is it your wife?"

"Harvey, please, put the gun down…" He kept himself calm, breathing deeply, forcing himself not to shout. If he shouted, if he reacted in anyway then they would be put in danger. _Stay calm, stay calm…_

It was then that Harvey's gun pointed at James, the son that he had met before, and the muzzle of the gun brushed the hair out of his eyes. It had been an informal meeting, Jimmy coming to work with him one day only to meet Rachel and Harvey. They had been amused at the entire situation, especially when Dent asked Rachel if she would like to have a fine kid like that someday. Rachel had blushed and swatted at him, James had to snicker at the both of them. It was then that Gordon snapped, how could he be doing this to him, to them?

"Goddamit, stop pointing that at my family, Dent!" He felt his belly pool with ice as Dent smiled, pulling James away from his mother and sister.

"We have a winner." He walked to the edge then, where the explosion had blown a hole in the floor, keeping his grip on the boy.

"No, Jim, stop him, don't let him!" His wife cried out then, her hand coming up, her tears sliding down her face in further anguish, her daughter clinging to her tighter. Her sobs were heavy with fear and pain.

"I'm sorry, Harvey, for everything, but please…don't hurt him…don't hurt my son…" He looked up at the man, pleading with everything in him. It was then that they heard it, the shrill sound of sirens, followed by the sound of officers leaving their vehicles, dogs barking, their intent clear.

"You brought your cops?" Harvey's voice was filled with disgust, his attention turning to Gordon immediately.

"All they know is that there's a situation. They don't know who, and they don't know what. All they're doing is creating a perimeter." Gordon spoke calmly, he wasn't making the same mistake again, he couldn't…

"You think I want to escape?" Harvey was more than angry enough for both of them. "There's no escape from this." He gestured to his face, to the entire situation, the anger turning into something more raw and jagged. There was grief under everything. Grief and suffering and pain.

"No one has to escape, because no one's done anything wrong. And nobody has to…"

Harvey laughed, the sound and the appearance of the half-charred face stretching to accommodate made Gordon feel sick. "I've done plenty of wrong things, Gordon. Just not enough, not yet." The gun pressed harder against the young teen's temple, the boy refusing to cry even as water was filling his eyes, swallowing heavily as he locked his gaze with his father, pleading.

"You don't want to hurt the boy, Dent." The voice brought hope soaring back into Jim's heart. The rustle of a cape as a dark figure stepped from the shadows drew their attention to Batman. There were no lenses in his mask, simply black eyes that pierced, surrounded by even more darkness.

"It's not about what I want; it's about what's _fair_!" Harvey shouted, his attention turning to the Dark Knight as he stepped forward. "You thought we could be decent men, in an indecent world. You thought we could lead by example. You thought the rules could be bent but not break… You were wrong. We were all wrong. The world is cruel." Dent held up the coin he had used before, the coin Batman had been surprised to see was in fact double sided, the coin that allowed Dent to make his own luck. Now the coin was just as scarred as its owner. "And the only morality in a cruel world is chance, unbiased, unprejudiced. _Fair_."

"Nothing fair ever came out of the barrel of a gun, Dent. Has a gun ever given life? No. A gun can only take."

"A gun can also save." Harvey spat the words out, glaring.

"Is that what that gun will be doing, is that what it's done?"

There was no answer for a moment, fingers tightening around the weapon. "They were corrupt. They handed her over. No one would miss them."

"What about their families, Dent, some of them had families, children, wives… They should have been brought to trial. The law is not something you should take into your own hands"

"What would a vigilante know about the law? Isn't that what you do?"

"I don't kill people." The words were dark, heavy, and for a moment Harvey seemed to hesitate, before he rallied in full.

"No, you let them die. How many people are dead because of you? Dozens?"

"Because of _us_! Who was it that didn't let me come forward at the press conference? Who was it that came forward as Batman?"

"I trusted you to do the right thing. Shows where that got me. You tried to save us. You failed. Gotham has fallen. His boy's got the same chance she had. Fifty-fifty."

"What happened to Rachel was not chance! It was the plans of a man that were made to destroy Gotham, to prove that deep down everyone's as evil as he is. Gotham proved him wrong once, please Harvey, prove him wrong again…"

"Joker doesn't plan. We planned, we schemed, and we lost."

"…Joker doesn't plan?" Batman's voice was quiet, dangerously so, rasping and low, the question given more weight than seemed possible. "Is that what he told you? That he was just some…mad dog that someone let off the leash? Harvey, he's made you into his tool, he's lied to you, and you're playing right into his hands. He rigged the barges to explode, gave the both of them detonators to the other ship, and told them that if the others weren't dead by midnight he would kill them himself. He can't have just thrown the charges into them and expect for people to get on them. He planned it.

"He went to you in order to corrupt the best of us, knowing that if his plan failed he could still destroy Gotham through you and your actions. He told me Rachel was in the warehouse that you were in. I didn't set out to save you, Harvey. I went to save _Rachel_. He lied. He knew I would be fast enough to save one of you and not the other; he was counting on Gordon's men to fail. He was going to use her death to get to you, to make you raw with grief. You refused to take anything for the pain and it led to delirium, pushing you into a state where you were susceptible to whatever it was he was saying. Harvey, you aren't the only one that lost someone important. You don't need to kill Gordon's family in order to make him sorry. You don't need to kill the boy. Please, Harvey, think about what you're doing. Would Rachel want this? Do you think she would be proud of you for what you're doing? You know these people, Harvey. You had dinner with them, liked them. Are you so willing to use your influence over them to destroy your friend and his _family_?"

Harvey was silent, eyes locked with the man as slow bubbling horror filled his expression, looking around at the people surrounding him as though he was a man waking up from a dream. He felt the trembling of the form he was holding tightly with the gun pressed to his head, looked at the way Barbara and her daughter stared at him, tears falling down their faces, finally meeting eyes with Gordon, seeing the fear and the grief that his expression held. Dent dropped the gun, falling to his knees, Jimmy running back to his family as Harvey dry-heaved onto the remains of the floor, the coin he had based so much of himself on thrown as far away from himself as he could.

Batman walked forward gingerly, kicking the gun into the hole, watching as it spun and landed stories below, breaking. Finally he crouched next to Dent, black eyes focused. "The Joker didn't win, Harvey. You beat him."

Gordon stood up shakily, his family rushing to him, grasping him tightly, sobbing. He stared at Harvey, at the remains of the White Knight, and the Dark Knight crouching next to him. "What do we do now? When they learn what he did…"

"They won't."

"Five dead, two of them cops? We can't sweep that under the rug-"

"No, but the Joker cannot win. Not now. Not when we have a chance."

"You can't!" Harvey shouted out then, straightening up, locking eyes with the Batman, tears sliding from his good eye. He knew what he was doing now, knew what he was planning, and the guilt that bubbled up in his gut nearly strangled him. "You can't do that!"

"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Harvey blinked, comprehension sliding across his face, remembering one of the dinners he had had, swallowing heavily against more bile. That he had hurt this man… "I can do those things, because I'm not a hero. I'm not what you are to these people. I can never be what you can be. I belong in the shadows, you belong in the light. You need to save Gotham; you need to get those skin grafts. Get therapy, Harvey, get help. You can do this. And remember this, if you ever go near Gordon or his family again without permission, I will stop you. Joker won't have turned me into a murderer. But you will."

"You can't, you're not like that!" Gordon stepped forward then, standing between the two of them, jolting in shock as a black gloved hand gave him his police radio.

"I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be."

"They'll hunt you."

"_You'll_ hunt me. Both of you. You'll condemn me, set the dogs on me. Because it's what needs to happen, because sometimes the truth isn't good enough, sometimes people deserve more. Call it in." He looked at the both of them, Harvey broken yet resilient. "I'm sorry, Gordon, for putting so much pressure on you and your family, but it must be this way."

"…Alright."

With that, Batman ran, the dogs barking loudly as they sought to catch up, Gordon using his police radio to explain the situation. Harvey watched after him until he vanished and turned his attention to Gordon.

"I'm sorry."

"I know."

As he ran, Batman turned off the watch that Superman had given him, the watch that had been on for almost two days.

….

Bruce Wayne stood in his penthouse, leaning against the window, staring out into Gotham city at sunset. He was exhausted, emotionally and physically, Alfred standing a respectful distance away, Lucius Fox at his elbow. "Master Wayne…"

Bruce turned his attention away from his city, locking eyes with Lucius as he did so, straightening up. "Mister Fox! I'm…sorry I'm not exactly all that presentable." Alfred had bandaged him and he had yet to put on a shirt, the gauze gaining red patches over where the dogs and knives had gotten him. Alfred hurried over with a black button-down, Bruce taking it automatically and shrugging it on, trembling hands working on the buttons until Alfred did it for him. Lucius recognized the mark of a traumatized man and cleared his throat gently.

"It's alright, Mister Wayne."

"So, were you interested in your resignation forms? I filled them out if you would like to file them; all they need is your signature. Gave you a nice leaving bonus, hopefully enough to hold you over until you find another job… I can give you a healthy recommendation, so don't worry about that…"

"Mister Wayne, the resignation forms will not be necessary. That's what I came here to talk to you about."

"…But I thought…"

"Mister Wayne, I told you that as long as that thing remained in the building then I wouldn't. It's no longer in the building. I trusted you to do the right thing. You did it. I feel it's best that I stay at Wayne Enterprises." Lucius nodded to him, smiling tightly. "I'm sorry about Rachel."

"…Thank you…" His voice was soft, Lucius ignoring the way the man slumped slowly, grief building up before being suppressed. He hadn't grieved yet, Fox knew, hadn't allowed himself the chance to break down. He cleared his throat harshly. "I'm glad you decided to stay, Mister Fox, Wayne Enterprises wouldn't be the same without you."

"Thank you." He accepted the handshake that was offered and walked forward, gripping the man's shoulder once in a gesture of support. "It will get better."

"I hope you're right, Mister Fox."

"The night is always darkest before the dawn, Mister Wayne. It's possible that this will be the dawn Gotham needs."

Bruce didn't answer and Lucius gave him a tight smile before leaving.

….

Two days had passed since the Joker fiasco. Two days had passed since Batman was declared a wanted murderer and Harvey Dent returned to the hospital a changed man. A broken yet not defeated man, a man who had accepted skin grafts and was planning to accept therapy. A man who now knew Bruce's secret, although Wayne had not attempted to visit him once. He hoped it wouldn't prove to be a mistake.

It was night; Alfred had refused for Bruce to leave the penthouse, Batman being forced to take a vacation for an undisclosed length of time. He stood silently, looking out at the city that had betrayed him, and jolted in surprise when the sound of someone opening the balcony doors made him start. The person he saw there made him see red. Before the man had a chance to react, Bruce had sprung forward, a clenched fist cracking against the man's jaw.

Superman jolted backwards, blinking in surprise, even as Bruce clutched what he knew was a broken hand to his chest. "Damn you! Damn you, you lying…" Hatred and despair fought for dominance inside of him, staring at the man who somehow seemed to be at the center of it all whenever something important was taken from him.

"Wait, please, Bruce…I'm sorry, just…please, let me explain." Superman held the man at arm's length, meeting furious hazel eyes with quiet insistence. Finally the man backed down, breathing heavily, glaring at the six people that stood in front of him, broken hand ignored in favor of sighing.

"Alright. Alright, I'm sorry. Please, explain why you promised that you'd come when the watch was turned on, only to not come when we needed you the most. I'd really like to understand why this would be the case." His words were spitting, vicious, Superman wincing.

"There…there was a situation."

"Superman, wait. Let me explain." Green Lantern interrupted him quietly, John standing in front of Bruce with an expression of pained misery on his face. "It was my fault. There was a situation involving the people who gave me my ring. I don't know how much I should be telling you, you're not part of the team…"

"No, I'm just the guy who gave you a satellite."

"…I was framed. The entire time Batman was struggling to stop this…Joker, I was fighting for my freedom, and my life. Superman, Hawkgirl, the Flash, and J'onn all came to aid me. No one was here that could have helped. Diana can't hear the watch and she was with her mother trying to smooth things over, the Queen, need I remind you. I almost died, as well as the man who was acting as my attorney, Flash over here." The red clad speedster waved in a subdued fashion, a frown on his face. "None of us ever imagined that something would happen that was terrible enough to actually…beat Batman. If we had we would have made sure someone stayed. I was taken and they sort of followed…"

Bruce listened quietly the entire time he was speaking, leaning up against his desk, and focusing on the six people standing there intently. Finally he sighed, his head bowing as he seemed to deflate completely, almost crumpling in upon himself. Anger was a wonderful thing to hide from grief behind; Bruce Wayne knew this for a fact. Yet as his anger drained something else crept into the picture, something that he rebelled against with every fiber of his being, something that he had been hiding from ever since it ended. Despair. The despair that filled him was fighting its way to the surface, despair at losing yet another member of his family, of having everything he had worked so hard for slip out of his fingers, his friends fighting bitterly amongst themselves.

In that single moment he was truly a twenty-one year old man who had lost everything he had been fighting for, the bat-signal destroyed, his tolerating relationship with the cops ruined, he knew it would now be even harder to save anyone. Rachel…Rachel was gone, too, a woman who had been like his sister, who had never judged him and had always been there for him when he needed it. Harvey Dent trying to kill Gordon's son, almost succeeding…Alfred was the only one left who knew who he was, what position he was in. He figured that Dent would eventually talk to him. He just hoped he could put away the anger that swelled in his chest before it made him do something he would regret. He kept his surface thoughts on Rachel, even through his grief he couldn't change anything, and he knew that J'onn would pick up on anything. If they knew who he was…

He hadn't realized he was trembling until a hand was placed on his shoulder, steadying him. He looked up into the concerned face of Diana Prince, her mouth in a small frown. Bruce tried to smile, managing a crooked grin, one that dropped almost immediately. "Sorry… I overreacted. I knew better. Earth isn't the only thing you look after. I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" He was shaking, grief bubbling up, churning his stomach, making him feel ill. He hated this, he felt powerless beyond the act he needed to put up, the knowledge that if he appeared as anything aside from broken and shell-shocked, they would be suspicious. He had placed himself in danger with the admission that he was funding Batman.

He didn't cry, but let himself shake like a leaf in a storm, understanding that his eyes would do the rest. When he had been young Alfred had commented that his eyes had terrified him. Too old for the rest of him, something in their depths shattered. He knew that was what they looked like now. Could see it in the way they avoided meeting them. Finally he forced it down, ceased shaking and pulled away from Diana. He straightened his shirt, looking at the ground, and clearing his throat.

"So…you were cleared?" Bruce asked looking up at him calmly, eyes shuttered, and pain hidden away.

"…Yes."

"Good. I'm glad. Sorry about hitting you, Superman. My hand really is sorry. I think I broke it." He held it in front of him quietly, grinning weakly before sighing at the fact that they were still staring at him intently. "You want information on Batman…" He took a breath and pulled a drawer out from his desk, throwing the cape and cowl onto the ground. He had removed all the extra-sensory equipment from it, aside from one small thing, making it truly just a prop.

"He left this. Tossed it here and left. Unfortunately…that means the tracking device that is located here:" he indicated the right 'ear' easily, "is no longer useable, quite obvious really considering he's no longer wearing it. There are several variations of the cape and costume, due to this they weren't implanted with a tracking device. Why bother when there's only one cowl? Our budget was getting tight enough as it is, and the more tracking devices there are…well…the more dangerous it would be. Naturally this wasn't what we had in mind when he started. I thought I knew him."

The cowl was passed along, each of them getting a feel for it, the heaviness to it surprising. This one had not been lined with lead. Superman found himself shocked when he found he could see its inner workings fine. It compounded the images of vampires and wraiths that danced inside his mind whenever he thought of Batman. He really wanted to know where Bruce had found him.

"Where would he go?" Diana asked finally.

Bruce paused; mind racing over where he would go should he have need to, knowing that the Martian would be tracking his thoughts. "You could try the docks, maybe some of the shipping yards at Wayne Enterprises. I don't know, to be honest. He was always good at hiding. I knew him for years and he could still sneak up on me. He knows Gotham like the back of his hand, knows all the places to hide. He's also not running around in costume anymore. At least…not until he gets a replacement cowl. He's a master of disguise as well. I don't know if I could recognize him even if he was sitting right across from me at a table… None of this was supposed to happen."

"I know…it never is." Superman sighed heavily.

"…Do you think that Bats really killed them?" Flash's question made them all pause. They turned to look at him, noticing the frown on the speedster's exposed mouth, the timid way he was holding himself.

"…Do I?" Bruce looked to the ground, his eyes flickering and his mind racing. "To be quite honest…no. No I don't believe he killed them. It's possible that I'm just clinging to hope that not everything in my life is shattered, but no. I don't believe he killed them. I believe there's evidence pointing to that fact, but I _know_ him." They met his eyes then, piercing hazel eyes that drew them in, made them believe.

"But what about Harvey, and Gordon's family, what could he have possibly been doing that he needed to kidnap them?" Shayera asked immediately.

Bruce sighed. "Now that I don't know. Maybe he needed to keep them safe and took them to one of the only places he could think of."

"It certainly seems possible." J'onn's voice radiated peace.

"But they say they felt threatened by him…"

"Batman's a threatening person…" John smirked slightly.

Bruce looked at them quietly, one to the other and finally gave a weak smile. "So you don't think he killed them?"

"Nah." Flash smiled at him weakly. "Bats…I don't think he's the type. Even with those aliens, he didn't do much to get them in the sunlight. Provided us with the means, most definitely, he even blew holes into the ceiling, but not directly over any of them. I don't think he could kill even if his life depended on it. So I don't know what could have possibly changed…"

"Joker changed. He broke everything. Turned it all upside-down and targeted us one by one. He killed Rachel. He killed my _sister_. He broke Harvey Dent…and he's going to get away with all of it." Bruce spat the words out, bitter, one of the main things that had caused him such pain boiling to the surface.

"What do you mean?" Diana asked.

"He's pleading insanity. He's going to get it. He's going to get away with everything. They'll stick him in Arkham."

"But…that's good, isn't it?" Shayera asked hesitantly. "If he needs help…"

"The Joker isn't insane. He doesn't need help; he needs to be shot straight to hell." Bruce spat the words out as though they were venomous, a moment later paling as though shocked at his own bitterness. "I'm sorry. I don't think I mean that either. But damn him! Damn him and this whole entire city, if it hasn't already been done!"

"But you're the Checkman, remember?" Wally's voice was quiet, a smirk on his face as Bruce turned his attention to him. "You can't damn it; you have to fight for it."

Bruce hesitated and finally smirked. "I know. I can't save the world by throwing money at it. But I can save a few people at a time." Just like that the man was gone, replaced by a quiet professional businessman that looked up at them each in turn. "The Wayne Foundation is holding a charity dinner for people who were affected in the recent disaster. It would…mean a lot if you could be there. Give people more reason to come. Even if they don't bring donations, we're just trying to give the people hope. More than just the upper crust is coming, the food's free… Am I overstepping my bounds, or would you come?"

They looked at each other, finally back to the man who was going out on a limb once again for his city and his world. A man that had lost practically everything. "We'd love to come, if we can make it. Would you take a couple of us instead of all of us?"

"Most definitely, it doesn't matter who's coming, or how many. Thank you, very much."

"You know…I think we'll go one step beyond that. We agree with you. We don't think Batman killed those people. Gotham hasn't crumbled without us stepping in yet, and I'm sure the police wouldn't appreciate it if we tried now. We're not going to hunt Batman." Superman's voice was decisive, nods spreading among the group.

"…You're not?"

"No. Not if he stays within Gotham. If he leaves…well, if he leaves we'll treat him like any other criminal. But he's safe in Gotham."

Bruce laughed hollowly. "I don't think he's safe anywhere, least of all Gotham. But I have to warn you of something. The Joker may have thrown Batman, but that's merely because he wasn't prepared for anything of the sort. The only thing he was worrying about at the time was the mob. Joker threw everything upside down and changed the playing field exponentially, he didn't know him and therefore did not know what to expect. You, on the other hand, will not be given the luxury of being able to catch the Batman off guard. Batman knows you. He is prepared for you, and should you attempt to stop him and he is a…murderer, then you should know that he will be perfectly able to stop each and every one of you. He knows your weaknesses and he knows how to exploit them. If you find yourself backing him into a corner, _let him go_. I don't care how much you think you have him contained. He is his most dangerous when in that situation.

"If he's not a murderer, some of the same rules apply. Never corner him, be aware that he knows how to stop you and what your weaknesses are. But understand that it is very likely he will do his best to help you if you need it, loss of Gotham or not. He will also likely continue to try and save Gotham as soon as he has gained the means. He won't be getting them from Wayne Enterprises, however, so in that case, don't worry about that. Good luck, I suppose. We'll contact you with details regarding the charity, thank you once again for agreeing to come."

He bowed them out, smiling at them each individually; shaking hands, and finally closed the doors with a snap. The smile vanished, the eyes darkened, and he found himself sinking to the floor. Alfred eventually came and sat with him, the two of them quietly mourning the life that had been, and all that Gotham had lost.


	10. Help

Bruce sighed, rubbing at his forehead gingerly, a migraine pulsing behind his temples. He often wondered about the choice to make the inside of the bunker completely white, the added fluorescent lights didn't help. He found himself missing his cave the most when in this situation. He missed his entire manor if he was to be completely honest with himself. The workers were getting closer to completion, but there were so many things that could never be recovered. He would do his best to replace most of it.

Bruce leaned back on the chair next to the computer, looking up at the monitors, eyes narrowing in scrutiny. True to their word, the League hadn't attempted tracking him, or offered any help whatsoever. The people of his city were not taking it very well. The reporters had turned vicious, towards them and towards Batman. It had been weeks since the League visited, their missions turning more dangerous as time went on, the direct link to the space station's computers allowing him more information than they would ever know. Yet it still wasn't enough.

Their filing abilities were atrocious, the Martian likely taking over the bulk amount, but unable to keep it organized due to the vast amounts of information that was added. They had only just added a quick summary of what had happened to Green Lantern and the rest a few days ago. John didn't have much time as he was also working on saving his entire sector of the galaxy. However he wanted to put it, the League was not as organized as he had hoped.

Batman had had successes towards the police, managing to avoid them and not being forced to hurt them. Every time he managed to get to the Bunker without having broken an officers nose or other bones, he was pleased. Gordon had met with him a few times and in turn the both of them had met with Harvey. Bruce visited as himself sometimes as well, sitting with him alone, answering quiet questions, keeping his mind off the pain. He found being able to talk about what had happened to be quietly relieving. He especially enjoyed Harvey's expression when he told him he hadn't burned down the Manor. Dent was honestly surprised when he admitted that he didn't drink. In his words if he had to face Gotham like that every night he would have turned into a raging alcoholic.

Wayne Tech had been working on a method to make skin grafts faster and easier as well as limit scar tissue long before Harvey Dent had half his face burned off. The purpose was reconstructive surgery and Bruce kept him updated constantly on how the development was going. Giving him hope that at least one thing in his life would go back to normal. Gotham city showered Dent with well-wishes and most of them yelled for re-election as soon as he was back to normal. They had no idea of what Wayne Tech was working on; they didn't know how close they were. The current replacement DA had none of the vim and vigor that Harvey had been blessed with, unable to handle the pressure. Gotham was still a cleaner place, however. Harvey's work when he had been able had seen to that.

While something of a power vacuum had been created in the wake of the mass arrests that had taken place, it was something kept under the rug and out of their way. It was something Batman struggled on a nightly basis to contain. He rubbed his hands through his hair, the dark circles under his eyes one of the main signs of constant struggle. A sharp ringing brought him out of his thoughts, and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a cell phone that he clicked open automatically after reading the caller ID.

"Mr. Fox, what you got for me?" The idea of calling each other by their last names had been Lucius' plan. The man was quite aware of how uncomfortable Bruce was with anyone referring to him as such and had sought to correct it. Bruce could not function in the business world without being able to handle it.

"_Mr. Wayne, we did it." _

"What?"

"_We hit a breakthrough. We're going to finish these tests, but I'll be honest with you, the entire team thinks it will work. You want to tell your friend Harvey that he's the first on our list of people, just like he asked? We got rid of the added complication. It's stopped being rejected by the host one thousand and ninety nine times out of two thousand. That is definitely better than the past average. We're going to be able to pass their tests completely in a few more days."_

Bruce felt a grin pull his mouth from ear to ear, the migraine vanishing at the sound of the first truly good news he had had in weeks. "I most definitely will tell him, thank you Mr. Fox."

"_No trouble at all, Mr. Wayne."_

He hung up and immediately called Gordon. _"Mr. Wayne?"_

"Gordon! Is this a bad time?"

"_No, not at all. It's been pretty quiet, what's going on Bruce?"_

"We think we've done it."

"_Done what?"_

"We can fix Harvey's face."

"_Already?"_

Bruce laughed. "Don't act so surprised, we've been working on this in particular for something like years. We finally hit a breakthrough. We had some trouble getting the host to…"

"_Spare me the details, Mr. Wayne; they'll go right over my head."_ Gordon chuckled quietly. _"But you can fix him?"_

"Yep, at least his face. But you heard what the therapist said; she figured that as soon as that was fixed the rest of his mind will join together. There were hints of a split-personality."

"_Yeah. Yeah…"_

"Jim, Harvey really is sorry."

"_I know he is, Bruce, I know. It's just…difficult. He's been trying so hard to make it up to me, but I just don't know if I can forgive him. Can you?"_

"Let's…let's just say I know what an amazing person Rachel was. Let's just say that given the chance I would have done everything in my power to see that the people responsible were destroyed. Maybe not killed, but I would have destroyed them. I _can't_ forgive him, Gordon. But there are so many other things going on in my life, so many other things I can think of that would turn me into a bitter and solitary man that I can move on. But it wasn't my family that Harvey took. It was yours and I more than understand the wish to see the man responsible pay."

"_Harvey didn't truly hurt my family, Mr. Wayne. He didn't shoot them and he didn't hurt them. He scared them, my son is still having nightmares, even if he won't admit it, but he stopped when it mattered. He stopped _himself_. You…you can't talk a man back to sanity. He talked himself." _Gordon was standing on the rooftop as he answered quietly, looking at the remains of the batsignal, the night around him dark and pressing. He wished desperately for the glass to be whole, for a rustle of black fabric. Trying to catch him was the worst thing he could have been forced to do. It was all Harvey's fault. And yet… _"You're right. You're right. If Batman can work to help him, then I suppose that's the least that I can do."_

"I suppose." Telling Gordon had been the hardest thing he had ever had to do. The look on the man's face when he crouched before him, explained what he was doing, and listened as Gordon broke down was the most painful thing he had ever witnessed. What had hurt worse was the man's admission that he felt he had failed him. It had taken a while, but eventually Gordon had accepted it. There wasn't much else he could do. Bruce had more than proved himself capable. He just wished it hadn't come to the world crumbling under his feet to prove himself trustworthy. They needed to work together now. They needed to win.

"_Well…I've decided it's what I'm going to do. Take a picture of Harvey's expression when you tell him how long it will take."_

"You want a picture of _that_ face?" Bruce asked.

"_Of course, I'll use it to scare the people in the interrogation room since I can't have Batman any more. I'll blow it up and stick it on the back wall; they'll be pissing themselves in two seconds flat." _

Bruce found himself laughing until he cried. Jim counted it as a job well done.

….

Gordon returned to work the next morning obscenely tired, promising to himself that he'd get more sleep the next night. He walked through the MCU, nodding to the various men and women who worked with him, the absence of Rodriguez still felt painfully. He had thought she could be trusted, yet she was the one who handed over his family. _That_ was something he could not forget. It was also something she had not been able to stand. Her resignation and promise handed over to him before she left. He had heard she was doing well for herself the next state over. He accepted a cup of coffee from one of his assistants, the short woman with brown frizzy hair not giving him any other choice. Not that he really would, the woman made very good coffee.

He entered his office quietly and nearly groaned at the pile of paperwork on his desk. He sank into his chair heavily, the mahogany top of his desk nearly covered. He grabbed the first file he found, sighing heavily as he lifted the styrofoam cup to his lips and flipped the file open with his other hand, and promptly jolted so badly he sent the scalding hot coffee splashing all over himself. The combination of surprise, pain and downright confusion made him almost miss the sudden flash that came out of the corner of his eye as well as give out a startled shout.

Bruce Wayne snuck in through the window, holding a camera, and giving him an apologetic little smile. "Um…oops? You really weren't supposed to be holding coffee. You alright? The assistant knows I'm here…she let me in."

Gordon looked up at the man before him that was squirming guiltily, looked down at the signed picture of an extremely pleased Harvey Dent, and looked at the large stain on his shirt that was still nearly scalding. He looked back up at Bruce and finally just threw his head back and laughed. "Good lord, you trying to give me a heart attack? What's with the camera anyway? And why didn't she tell me?"

"Well…he said that if I went that far I might as well give him your reaction. I think he's going to hurt himself laughing. He goes into surgery tomorrow. It's the perfect get well soon gift. As for why she didn't tell you…I may have told her not to?" Bruce gave him a quietly guilty smile that he received a narrow-eyed look for, before the matter was disregarded.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yep. Whatever you have to say to him…best time is now."

"Sounds like a plan. I have a lunch break at one."

"I'll meet you there."

"Alright." Bruce hurriedly moved to the door before he could say anything else. "Wait, you're not Batman, I can still see you moving. You owe me a new cup of coffee." Jim pointed at him sternly, a slight smirk on his mouth.

Bruce froze, turned, and returned the smirk. "You don't want my coffee, trust me. I don't drink the stuff anyway, my butler's British, remember? I've been drinking tea since I was really little."

"Explains a lot."

Bruce raised an eyebrow at him, smiled, and left, nodding to Gordon's assistant as she walked into the room he had just left. The sight of Gordon dripping coffee made her give an immediate vocalization, hurrying forward, the short woman completely frazzled as she made to clean him up. Jim laughed, explained it on eccentric billionaires and listened to her fuss with a smirk, exceedingly amused at the grumbling about billionaires that couldn't mind their own business and tossed coffee on people for kicks. He couldn't help but smile and think that maybe things really would get better.

He supposed he could only hope, but the fact that he could hope at all was good enough in Gotham.

…

The plastic chairs in the waiting room were some of the most uncomfortable things he ever had to deal with even as he shifted in them. Bruce, being younger and also a billionaire that was considered highly eccentric had turned his around to sit on it backwards. He was receiving several dirty looks from the others, all of them as far away from the two as possible. Jim really wished he had the same luxury as the other, but nope. Here he was stuck in a horrible plastic chair that was making his butt numb, just another thing that he didn't like about being a respected Commissioner. He figured the only thing he could do was talk. "So, have you heard anything about the Justice League? What have they been up to?" Gordon asked under his breath, looking at Bruce from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, last week they helped stop a natural disaster in Wake."

"That island in the Pacific?"

"Yep. Turned out the inactive volcano there really was active. Someone lost their job over that one I'm betting you…"

"More than that, I'll bet."

"How much?" Bruce asked, the two of them snickering at the exchange before continuing. "They got there in time. Lots of property damage, but the population total was small anyway. Not that hard to gather them up and fly them off."

"I suppose not. But you know what really confuses me?"

"I can think of a lot of things." Bruce grinned at the raised eyebrow he received and cleared his throat. "Sorry, had to say it. What exactly confuses you?"

"Why don't they ever come to Gotham?" The question was mumbled out of the corner of his mouth, unnoticeable to the rest of them gathered half a room away.

Bruce was silent for a moment. "Maybe they believe that Batman is innocent…" The answer was even quieter.

"That could turn out to be a very big problem."

"Let's hope it doesn't."

The silence that came over them was overwhelming; the falsely cheerful decorations in the main surgery waiting room almost vomit-inducing in their cutesiness. They had only just cleared Dent for surgery a week before. Now was the moment of truth, the bandages would be removed, and they would see if Harvey Dent would ever be the same. All they could do now was wait, wait and keep their fingers crossed that it would be worth it. There were a few reporters ready with their cameras and microphones, already having been warded off by Gordon until Harvey arrived.

Bruce really disliked the way they were eyeing him, that close, scrutinizing, and hungry manner of buzzards about to tear apart their next meal. He hated reporters.

A moment later and the doors opened, the back of a doctor wearing green scrubs over his work clothes shown as he wheeled the chair backwards. They stood up immediately, cameras rolling, Bruce spinning his chair back into its usual position, breath being held. They turned, a big smile on the Surgeons face, and a whole Harvey Dent smiling back at them from a wheelchair, his head and eyebrows shaved, but his face whole. The scar that they could see was small, not truly visible unless they were looking for it, all along where the burns had met skin in a very fine line. The immediate congratulations and applause was something he waved away with a grin.

Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne were truly unable to help themselves, shaking his hand and congratulating him.

"Please, Bruce, you of all people shouldn't be congratulating me. It was your research that made this possible." Harvey smiled at him, shaking the hand that was offered as the cameras filmed.

"It was the least I could do, Harvey. Gotham needed its White Knight back."

"It's true; the White Knight is something that brings hope to people. In Gotham, we need all the hope we can get. It's good to have you back, Harvey." Gordon smiled at him, even though the smile was more of a smirk. Blue eyes widened before the smile on his face grew, and everything in that one moment was put behind them.

Gotham always came first. No matter what happened, Gotham always came first.

Bruce had hired a private care-giver for Harvey as things worked on returning to normal. They were certain of the fact that it worked, so far everything had been stable, but there was always the possibility of complications. At the moment they needed to get him home, Alfred waiting with the car for all three of them, Harvey still in the wheelchair, the medicine in his system making him dizzy whenever he attempted to stand up. He had pain relievers and other drugs to prevent infection, but they all thought that the possibility of such was minimal. For all intents and purposes, Harvey Dent was whole. It was for this purpose and this purpose alone that Bruce teased him the entire way home.

"So, what do you think of the bald look?"

"Well…I wouldn't exactly call it my favorite." Harvey ran his fingers over the dome, smirking slightly. "What do you think; could I pass as Lex Luthor?"

They laughed shaking their heads. "No, no possible way."

"Although that would make things very easy for you."

"Yeah, with his kind of money you could rule the world." The two of them looked at Bruce with a raised eyebrow. "Well, you could, I would certainly know." They laughed and for the first time in a long while, things were truly looking up.

"Hey, you know what…you could actually go to that charity now."

"Sounds like a plan. What took so long anyway? That's been in the works for quite a while, hasn't it?"

Bruce smirked to himself quietly and shrugged. "Lots of reasons."

"Whenever you're vague, I worry." Gordon raised an eyebrow at him and Wayne returned the look.

"Probably a good policy."

…

Bruce leaned back against his chair, smiling as he watched the people of Gotham try and come to grips with the fact that some of the heroes from the Justice League were right in front of them. Harvey and Gordon had looked at Bruce when the charity opened and just stared. Bruce had laughed and shrugged. "We had trouble coordinating our schedules. They were too busy saving the world for a while. I think I got a good deal though. We have Flash, who, as you can see, is exceedingly social…over there is J'onn, _if at all possible avoid him_." The instruction was mumbled but completely sincere. "Talk to Superman, he's been interested in a conversation with the both of you for a while. J'onn's too polite to interrupt. He's over there."

That done he had taken a seat to watch the proceedings. Normally he would be attempting to monopolize their attention, but there were too many people talking to each other. As said, it wasn't about protecting the identity of Batman, not tonight. Tonight it was about trying to give Gotham hope. They didn't need him to do that.

The charity had been orchestrated by the Wayne Foundation; people from all parts of life were walking around the tables, talking to each other. At the start of the night cliques had formed, low class with lower, high class with higher, yet as the heroes set into talking to each one of them and they remembered what the charity was for, circles began expanding. There had been other methods to raise money for repairs, but none of them had been this effective. The rich were quite happy to stick their donations into the boxes provided; the mayor had even stopped by for a while.

It wasn't until Bruce glanced over at the green Martian that he decided maybe it was a good idea to let the social billionaire take over. J'onn was alone, the surrounding people giving him a wide berth. Bruce looked over at where Harvey and Jim were, doing as he had suggested and talking quite happily to Superman. As much as he thought that the two of them would be the perfect ones to talk to J'onn, he couldn't risk it. Not without making sure J'onn really would keep his telepathy to himself. He didn't trust anyone, telepathic aliens especially.

"No one's talking to you much, J'onn?" The alien turned as Bruce spoke to him, a weak smile stretching his mouth.

"They are behaving as I expected they would."

"Ouch, J'onn, that cuts me deeply." He put a hand to his heart, pulling a distraught face that J'onn smiled at, before Bruce smirked lightly and sighed, leaning against the wall next to him. "So, have you tried talking to them?"

"I have, there were actually quite a few people attempting to talk to me at first."

"What happened?"

"I am still learning Earth's culture. I did not get what it was they were saying at times."

"You didn't…you know…look?"

J'onn looked at him directly, Bruce's eyebrow rising as he answered. "I would never violate someone in such a manner, not if they do not understand it and I did not ask for permission."

Bruce blinked and then smiled. "Well then, that's a little different, and I'm sorry for accusing you. I didn't know, it's all very odd to me, as you can probably imagine. With that said, those two over with Superman, Harvey Dent, Jim Gordon, do their names sound familiar?"

"From what I recall they were allies with Batman."

"Yes. Do you understand why they were avoiding you?" J'onn blinked and there was a sudden moment of clarity.

"They still have not forgiven us."

"No, Harvey Dent…well, you know what happened to Harvey."

"Yes."

"Then you know why it would be difficult to forgive you. However, they don't wish to be rude. Telepathic…" He let his sentence trail off, watching as J'onn considered quietly and nodded. "If you want, I could introduce you. They would be the perfect ones to talk to."

J'onn looked at them and back to Bruce, finally giving a slight nod of his head.

"Excellent, come on."

Dent and Gordon turned when they noticed Bruce leading the Martian over, a slightly quizzical look passed over their faces, until Bruce shrugged. It wasn't until J'onn spoke that they relaxed fully. "I understand your anger. I assure you, your thoughts shall remain your own. I will not attempt to pry."

Bruce and his honey-dipped tongue had apparently done it again.

"Alright, I am sorry."

"You cannot help it, and I do not blame you."

"Good. So we're all friends then." Bruce smirked lightly and then paused, listening to the hush that fell over the guests. Superman stiffened slightly and Bruce looked up, "What?" He turned then, following the blue-eyed gaze and huffed out a sigh. "I had hoped he wouldn't show up today…"

Lex Luthor had entered the building. The bald man was practically schmoozing around the rich, completely ignoring the other guests; the ones who had branched off to include the ones they were helping went back to their own groups. The Flash looked around at everyone with something like shock before zipping over to the small group in the middle. Superman was glaring. "You invited him?"

"Hell no." Bruce looked quietly furious, eyes narrowed and focused. "He's been trying to make a business deal with Wayne Enterprises for longer than I can really remember; he's been in Gotham for a few days now. I've had to meet with him several times."

"So… Why don't you want to make a deal with him?" Superman's words were light, Bruce's reply equally so.

"Because he's a snake in the grass and everything he touches turns to rot." Superman blinked, looking at him in surprise. "That said, most of the deals he attempts to make involve using our research for his own weapons research and development. I don't like guns. That's all he's trying to make. A bigger gun. Call it what you will, the only thing he wants is destruction and a profit. We were in a bit of a race to develop the technology that fixed Harvey over here. I'm proud as well as relieved to have beaten him at his own game. I have no problem with a profit, it's quite true that Wayne Enterprises is out to make one; it's how we continue to fund these charities and our research. LexCorp is not something we wish to get involved in." As he was talking he was signaling a waiter, a familiar one to two of them.

"Do you want me to get rid of him?" Superman asked, beginning to hover slightly, Bruce shook his head.

"No, it's fine, I'll take care of him." He rolled his shoulders once, an expression sliding across his face that three of them had never seen before in person. The vapid playboy expression combined with just a touch of irritated toddler. Superman quit hovering; this was going to be good.

"Master Wayne?" Alfred asked as he approached, raising an eyebrow.

"Get me the good stuff."

"Of course, sir."

He left and Bruce straightened his jacket and tie methodically, brushing away imaginary dust before smoothing his hair back calmly. Alfred returned with two glasses, Bruce took one and held the other delicately. "Ten minutes."

"You're on." Harvey smirked, checking his watch quietly and watching as Bruce made his way over to Luthor, the charm expected of him practically oozing from his pores.

A moment later the two of them engaged in quiet conversation. Luthor had a smile on his face almost as crooked as he was.

"So, who wants to bet that Luthor will dump his drink on him?" Harvey asked quietly.

"I'd expect for the man to be of more class than that. Probably finish the last of it to prove a point before handing the glass over. You know, social class thing, treat him like one of the servants," Gordon answered quietly. "He has to have noticed that what he's drinking is better than others, leading him to suspect that Bruce has his own supplied."

"Yeah, you're probably right…although it would be pretty funny."

"Oh, well…Bruce is not going to like that." Luthor had placed his arm around his shoulders, treating him like an old friend, that crooked smile turning twisted.

"Hell, I wouldn't like that. If I were Bruce, I would have that suit dry-cleaned."

"I'd burn it."

"That does sound like a reasonable course of action. I shall take it up with Master Bruce when he returns." Alfred raised an eyebrow at the two billionaires as Luthor became progressively more assertive. Gordon and Harvey shared a glance and snickered.

Flash, J'onn, and Superman stared at them, stared at the two men they were watching, and then back at each other. "People in Gotham are nuts," Flash mouthed.

"We prefer to think of it as 'enlightened, sir." Alfred smirked at him when he jumped and turned back to watching. The tone of the conversation changed. Luthor backed off relatively quickly, the smile vanishing behind a frown as Bruce kept talking, smiling politely, but apologetically.

"He's trying to make a deal again? Really?"

"Wait…what's that slip of paper he has?" Harvey asked quietly narrowing his eyes.

"That…oh no. That's a check, isn't it?"

"He wouldn't…he did." Before their very eyes, Luthor took the check, likely of a ridiculously extravagant sum, and tore it to pieces before taking it and shoving it into Bruce's hand. Luthor grinned maliciously, his glass drained before it was shoved in his other hand, the man turning his back and waving over his shoulder as he left.

"Bastard. He'd let a stupid thing like a vendetta get in the way of all these people?"

Bruce looked at the remains of the check in his hand before frowning, looking up after the retreating form and finally returning to them. Harvey accepted the shreds of paper that were offered and examined it as Alfred took the glass. Dent frowned as he noticed all the zeroes that the check would have contained. "Well…think if I taped it back together they'd accept it?" The smile he offered was weak but he didn't seem overly angry, shrugging lightly. "How long did it take?"

Harvey glanced at his watch and raised an eyebrow. "Nine minutes, not bad."

"New record."

They talked a bit, finally spreading out, speeches given, Harvey saying a few words and bowing. Bruce himself turned in another check, the amount applauded and cheered for. Finally the night started winding down and Superman walked over to them.

"Gentlemen, it's been fun, really it has, but we have to get going now I think." Superman started, looking around at all the people. Most of them were beginning to leave, it was a late night and some of the children were beginning to slump where they stood.

"Alright. It was nice having you over. You guys were wonderful."

"It was really no trouble, Bruce, it was actually pretty fun."

"Yeah, let's do it again sometime, only next time…let's just try and avoid Luthor." Flash smiled and shook his hand, the rest offering their own. The heroes saluted to the surrounding populace, and without much ado left Gotham, cheers and applause following them in their wake.

"That went well."

"Amazingly well."

It was just as the rest of the guests were leaving, Bruce helping organize some of the cleanup staff, when his phone rang. "Bruce Wayne, may I ask who's calling please?"

"Mr. Wayne…we have a situation."

"Mr. Fox, what's wrong?"

"Our security alarm went off in the research and development wing of Wayne Tech. There's been a robbery."

Why were the heroes never in Gotham when this sort of thing happened?


	11. So

Bruce Wayne walked next to Lucius Fox down the windows that lined the fourth floor of the WayneTech building, hands in his pockets, some of the people working for WayneTech hurriedly checking and double-checking inventory. They ran up and down the aisles and through the workspaces, ticking things off on pads of paper. Of all the times to steal something from the company it had to be during a charity dinner. "What are we missing, Mr. Fox?"

"Not much, Mr. Wayne. From what they've been able to find all that we are missing is small items, items that when apart have very little value."

"What happens when they're put together?"

"We were worried about that as well, from what we can find…nothing." Bruce let out a brief sigh of relief.

"That's what I was thinking when that information turned up… However, that doesn't change the fact that whoever broke in got past our security systems." He gave him a significant look that Bruce coughed in reply to; rubbing the back of his neck in what Lucius had come to understand was a hesitant gesture, one that he did not indulge in often.

"About that…" He started quietly, looking around at everyone, making sure they were all out of earshot before getting even closer and mumbling his response. "I've been working on the security systems and have…well, the Bunker's safe. I had been meaning to give you the program, but…"

"You've been too busy with other things."

"I sabotaged my own company." Bruce sighed, rubbing at his temples with his fingers before Lucius clapped him on the shoulder.

"No one would have known that they could get past security. The security we had for that vault was top of the line, until you went and improved it because you're paranoid. I don't blame you, the company won't blame you. We had the best encryptions money can buy, so please, don't beat yourself up about it. But I would take those upgrades from you now."

Bruce laughed at the raised eyebrow he was offered. "Alright, I can get you them…tomorrow, today might be a bit difficult."

"You have a theory?"

"Best that money can buy, how else could someone operate it when they would never have encountered it before? Someone with enough money and power to gain such a thing, especially when the components were so small… I believe we're dealing with a man who is trying to make a point." Bruce was fiddling with the watch on his wrist as he spoke, completely unwilling to take the bait himself. He had more important matters to attend to. It was then that Lucius Fox cleared his throat, recognizing the watch and the plan. "Yes?"

"They also stole something else. I wasn't going to mention it, but since you seem darn certain you're going to get it back…kryptonite."

"…I'm sorry?" Bruce blinked an eyebrow rising in almost dreadful suspicion.

"They also stole that chunk of kryptonite we had acquired and were experimenting on."

"You have to be kidding me." Bruce let go of the watch, looking at him with an expression of disbelief.

"No, I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne, I'm not. They took the kryptonite."

Bruce sighed, nodding his head and sighing with exasperation. "This is just perfect. Did he get what he wanted?"

"On the whole, yes."

"Peachy." Bruce shoved his hands into his pockets, looking off into the distance, hazel eyes unfocused as he lost himself in thought. Lucius waited patiently, something like concern flickering in the brown depths of his eyes. He was certain he knew what Bruce was planning to do, as a smile spread across his face and Wayne offered his hand for a handshake, Lucius was certain of it. "Well, thank you for your time, Lucius, I'm going to go over and speak to Commissioner Gordon for a moment."

"Alright, Mr. Wayne, good luck." He found himself wishing for that more than he liked. His hope was eventually Bruce Wayne would find himself not needing it. He doubted it, but it wouldn't stop him.

"Thank you." That said, Bruce walked away, over to Gordon and his men who were examining the security systems for the vault, and listening to the men who worked there. His other cops that he had brought with him were also spread out among them. Harvey Dent stood near him, the recently reappointed DA listening to them closely. He was into everything again, currently interested in anything related to Bruce Wayne, especially now that he knew what his evening hours entailed. Dent met piercing hazel eyes that had a dark look to them and figured that was precisely what he was going to do.

"So, what have you found out?" Bruce asked, the two men turning to look at him immediately. They frowned slightly, shaking their heads.

"No finger prints, no true sign of a break in until those alarms were triggered. There is video surveillance, as you're aware, but the cameras were destroyed before whoever it was went to work. I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne. We have no hard evidence as to who precisely broke in."

It was at this moment that a slightly timid looking man with blond curly hair started scooting over to them, his expression pinched and rather worried. They looked at him, his eyes widening before he straightened up and cleared his throat. Gordon narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before blinking in recognition. "You're Coleman Reece, right? The one that was going to reveal Batman's identity?"

"I was wrong." His voice was quiet, but he met Gordon's eyes with conviction. "The one I thought was Batman wasn't. I already told your men that, they looked into it themselves… I was almost killed for nothing"

"I understand, my apologies."

Coleman smiled shakily before looking over at Bruce, meeting his eyes hesitantly. "I think I know who did it."

"Why didn't you speak up earlier?"

"There didn't seem to be an opportune moment." He cleared his throat and wrung his hands once. "Lex Luthor was offered a tour several times, I…was trusted with keeping him occupied and for the longest time I didn't bring him here as per my instructions. He…threatened me with a black-mark on my name I wouldn't be able to escape from, with a loss of everything I had worked so hard for. I…remembered the Joker, and I just…froze. I had meant to tell you that I had given him a tour of this building, but as he hadn't done anything with it I figured he might not have actually been planning anything nefarious."

"You believe Lex Luthor stole those pieces?" Harvey asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, I do." Once again that conviction was there, that straightening of the shoulders, his simple blue suit tugged at.

"That's an awful lot of conjecture there…why wouldn't he just make his own? Why resort to stealing them? We have nothing that directly ties him to the incident. Luthor was seen leaving Gotham right when WayneTech was being robbed." Gordon spoke calmly, giving him a considering look.

"If it wasn't Luthor it was someone he gave the information to." Coleman stood firm, his eyes mainly on Bruce's, letting him know. If Harvey hadn't been aware of who he was talking to, he would have sworn it was the look of an employee trying to save his ass.

"Thank you, Mr. Reece for telling me. It is still, as the Commissioner has pointed out, a lot of conjecture. As for you, going against specific instructions…I understand your position. I also recall promising that you would receive protection should something like that occur. You are a valuable member of this company, Mr. Reece; we'd hate to lose you. Do remember that next time, yes?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne."

"We'll discuss this later, now is not the time." Reece left then, nodding his head to each of them in turn. Bruce once again staring off into space, mind whirring with what he could do and how it would affect everything.

"Rather hard-headed, isn't he?"

"He gets the job done, he also hasn't tried blackmailing me, so that's always a plus…" He smirked at that admission, the two men smiling. "Don't know what made him change his mind, from what Lucius tells me he rather liked the idea." They laughed then, Bruce focusing again before finally nodding his head. "Well, gentlemen, thank you for your time. I apologize if my workers were less than upfront…"

"Not at all, Mr. Wayne, they were all very professional and they were all very helpful. We'll get back to you later. Thank you for your participation."

"Absolutely no trouble at all."

They left, the both of them trading quiet glances, one in a brown suit, the other in a navy-blue one, Gordon's brown eyes reflecting worry while the others reflected calm decisiveness. It would be fine. But even in those eyes there was doubt. There was a certain man in blue tights that might throw everything out of whack and could actually capture Batman. The thought did not bear consideration.

….

Alfred hovered next to his young Master, watching as he checked and double-checked the pouches on his belt, flicking the batarangs open and shut and checking that his grapple gun was securely holstered. He had the black fabric on over the top of his Kevlar outfit, giving him the appearance of a man with a bit more muscle density than he actually had. Not that it really mattered, he could kick their asses from here to China if he wished to, and Alfred was quite willing to attest to the fact.

Bruce glanced over at Alfred who was holding his cowl and reached out to take it. Black gloves that were reinforced, should he actually have to resort to punching the Man of Steel in the face his hands wouldn't break, grasped the cowl firmly. "Master Bruce…"

Bruce hesitated, one step away from becoming Batman and taking the bat-pod out into the night, regarding Alfred quietly.

"Whatever happens, Master Bruce, I wish for you to know this. I am proud of you and the choices you have made. You have turned into a fine young man and I believe you have made great strides in helping the people of Gotham. What that man said about the apple falling far from the tree could not be farther from the truth, and it appalls me that I have not told you sooner. You are in some ways better than your father."

Bruce blinked, hazel eyes wide, expression caught somewhere between shock and thanks, black rings that were applied out of habit making the look stand out. Finally he managed to get a hold of himself, smiling shakily before replying. "Alfred, you talk like I'm dying! I'll be fine, I promise. I just need to get those parts back from Luthor; it's a taunt that must be answered."

"By Batman?"

"Luthor aimed it towards Batman, actually."

"I don't follow you, sir…"

"Luthor does not care about Bruce Wayne, aside from my technology I am nothing to him. He talks to me as though I am someone under his notice, but Batman? He knows that Bruce Wayne cannot act without proof. He's also aware that Batman is still protecting the city and taking down criminals, in his words 'trying desperately to attain the high road which he lost. It's likely because he's lost without it, waiting for someone to pick him up, dust him off, and show him the way.'" Alfred snorted in contempt. "Exactly, he knows that should he steal something from someone of such a high profile, Batman will have to respond. He's been asking me questions about him; he's been asking everyone about him. I had him followed for a bit. He's completely obsessed. I don't know why, really, but he's planning something."

"I understand, sir. Just be careful."

The cowl was pulled on, the cape was fixed into place firmly, and the bat-pod was examined once again to make certain it was fully functional. "I'll be back, Alfred. Trust me." With that he drove the bat-pod onto the platform which raised him out of sight leaving Alfred alone in the Bunker with monitors that showed the man's vitals behind him. He could only wait.

…

Batman parked the bat-pod in an area that gave him as straight of a line to follow towards LexCorp and hid it. He did a quick sweep with his binoculars once again, looking for a flicker of a red cape, for a streak of red, blue, and gold. He was nowhere to be seen, which didn't mean anything. He took a moment to reflect on how _bright_ the night of Metropolis seemed to be, the buildings lit up, light pollution making the stars invisible. He needed to move out. He could see the LexCorp building, piercing the sky as one of the tallest in something like a mile radius.

Batman waited calmly on the overpass bridge, there were few cars entering the city at this time of night, and most of them were semis with trailers. There was one in particular he aimed for. The trail end of a huge line of them, there wasn't a single car to be seen for miles. Landing on the trailer of it, boots gripping magnetically immediately as he landed and triggered it, unseen and unheard he hurriedly slipped to the back, before crawling down underneath the trailer. The underside of the trailer was covered with deep grooves at an even spacing that he used to crawl along. The one he was grasping was a LexCorp trailer.

LexCorp trailers, as a rule, were manufactured with lead. This one was going home with a strange passenger underneath, his cape rolled up across his shoulders securely. The lead was mixed with iron in a process that wasn't typically used, so the magnetic-laced soles of his boots and his gloves gave him the perfect ability to stick to the underside without much exertion. It was a handy feature; one he decided was worth creating an extra set of boots and gloves for. It wouldn't be long before he could get his answers.

…

Lex Luthor leaned back in his office chair, looking out over the city he had watched slip out of his grasp time and time again, fingers pressed together and one leg crossed over the other as he leaned back. The large windows let in the light, the rest of the room in darkness. He was expecting a guest and he had heard that he preferred the dark. He wouldn't want to make his guest feel uncomfortable, especially when said guest might be as dangerous as they say. Not that he was planning on making it easy for him.

The security had been doubled and if Wayne's technology was what he had come to expect for top of the line security he would be having some trouble infiltrating LexCorp. As the hours passed by and there wasn't a sign of him, Luthor finally sighed, swinging his chair around to face the rest of his office, and promptly jolted backwards. A pair of white lenses stared directly into his eyes, hovering right in front of him, the form before him somehow repelling the light that shone on him, making it seem unnatural, the shadows clinging to him almost lovingly.

"I would fire those security guards." The voice of the man before him was like broken glass, jagged and cutting the person who was foolish enough to toy with it. He had been foolish to invite him, Luthor realized, foolish to believe he could taunt him and get out of it unharmed. He had been thinking of Superman, of someone that you respected and regarded with a great deal of caution because he could crush you like a bug, but would hold himself back. The one before him had no such reservations, even the _feeling_ he promoted was different. Instead of caution and respect there was terror, crippling terror that held him perfectly still. He had a gun in a shoulder holster under his jacket, but if what they said was true, guns wouldn't work. He wondered.

Batman read the man's body language like a book and he found himself smirking, allowing the look to show teeth. Luthor stiffened further and finally gained control of himself, images of vampires filling his brain at the sight of the man's eyeteeth. He immediately rejected the idea. Vampires were ridiculous.

"You are right of course; they obviously are not worth what I'm paying them for. So, what do you think of LexCorp?" He regained his poise, ignoring the way the vigilante turned villain was perched on his desk. If he wanted to crouch there, who was he to tell him not to? There was no response and he got the feeling he was being laughed at, small talk with Batman? No. This was a man who got in, expected to get answers quickly, and then get out. "As you know I stole from Bruce Wayne in order to get your attention."

"You have it, now what do you want?" His voice was broken glass that broke into shards and cut him deeply, Luthor's fingers moving towards the gun, a slight tilt of the head before him making his hand falter. "Do you really want to do that?"

"No. Actually, I planned to make a deal with you." This was ridiculous, he straightened himself up. Standing up he began to pace, Batman not moving from that crouched position. "You tried to tame the most dangerous city in the whole of the United States, quite possibly the most dangerous city in the world, and you managed to go far. You were able to make the entire mob afraid of you; you saved the entire world, helping this…'Justice League' in the process. Yet people have cursed you, spit on you, and the ones whose lives you have saved have turned their backs on you. Whose fault is it?" Batman didn't respond, still watching, watching as the man gained focus, an obviously rehearsed speech fallen into with abandon, gesticulating wildly.

"The Justice League's fault, yes, I see it in you, you know it's true. You were a very new hero, weren't you? You also immediately went to Gotham when you started. This tells me something, either you had family there, or you were a local, because no one else would care. Did you get fed up? No one was trying to save your city so you decided 'to hell with it' and decided to become a hero to spite them? I've heard rumors that your relationship with these so-called heroes has been shaky. After all, where were they when you needed them? They let Gotham fall and you took the blame for it, being forced to kill five people in order to finally save it. Why do you still try and play the hero? It's so very obvious that you do not fit in with them and also very obvious that the people of Gotham do not _want_ you. Why else would they turn their back on you so quickly?"

Batman stared at him, Luthor returning the gaze unflinchingly, empowered by his words. "What precisely do you want me to do, Luthor?"

"Join me. I have nothing to offer you as incentive, I'm right in guessing that you took the parts back?"

"Yes, and deleted all your files pertaining to them." Luthor blinked but simply gave a rather weak smile.

"Yes, I suppose you would. The point is, I can't give you money, and I honestly highly doubt it would interest you. I also cannot give you power, if you wished you could get that for yourself, but it has to be your decision. _But I can give you what it is that you're _really_ seeking_."

"What, Luthor, am I really seeking?"

"_Revenge_. This entire time you've been playing a superhero you were dressed up in this little make-believe world where you could make Gotham into a better place, that you could be something other than twisted and frightening. Surely you are aware that people don't like bats, yes? People are afraid of them; you will always be something that the regular people fear. You did not choose to be a hero; you never have, hiding your true intent in shadows. As for Gotham…I'm afraid our sister city will always be the ugly one, but whose fault is that? It's certainly not yours. You paid sweat and blood for that city; they shined your very signal in the sky to call you! But what have any of those heroes done for your city? Nothing. They spat on your city, slighted it, and let it fall into what it is today. You know this, so why don't you do something about it? Join me, and I can show you just how appealing the other side is. Join me and you shall get your revenge, and believe me, nothing tastes as sweet."

Batman didn't move, his expression set in stone, Luthor slowly wilting. "What is your main goal?"

The smile returned. "Destroy Superman and the Justice League, seize the world in an iron fist, if you want, I'll give you Gotham to do with as you will. Hell, I might give you the whole of New York." The smile grew wider, positively beaming as he gave him something he was certain wouldn't be refused.

"How do you plan to do this?" Such a simple question, but at the same time, important to know, this one had class and the knowledge of how to plan details. Luthor knew he would enjoy working with him.

"Gather a team. You're the first, but not the last and we cannot do anything with that red and blue menace. I have to kill Superman first."

"Is that why you stole the kryptonite?"

Luthor laughed, the sound cutting short as Batman bristled. He was testy and didn't enjoy being laughed at, fine; Lex would remember that for later. "No, I merely stole that to give you more of a sign of who precisely stole Wayne's technology. I have my own. It's been in my possession for years." He then proceeded to pull it out of his chest pocket, the eerie green light it gave off finally managing to pierce the shadows that surrounded the one crouching on the desk, if only to somehow make him seem more terrifying. Luthor had chosen well.

Batman didn't comment, although under the mask Bruce's eyes widened. "It was unnecessary. Others were suspicious."

"They had no proof, did they?"

"I don't like gambits."

"I don't make them often, only when it seems like I have a high chance of winning."

"A dangerous policy, variables change."

Luthor waved the comment away, "You're really no fun. With that poker face I would expect for you to be a killer in the art of gambling. I'll have to introduce you to that as well, I suspect… Will you do it?"

"Give me a position as second in command and whatever team you eventually gain, bring them to Gotham. You will take them to a place of my choosing and I will set it up for you myself. Is that understood?"

Luthor blinked, smiled and finally laughed outright. "'Understood?' My good man, it's accepted wholeheartedly. I had been meaning to make you my second as it is. You strike me as someone I would get along with well. Certainly better than those other buffoons I must work with…"

"I take it you're planning to make these…'buffoons' a part of your team?"

"They're easy to bribe, but that is a conversation for then. How can I contact you when I need you?"

"Use this." Luthor caught the black cell-phone like device that was thrown to him. "It only works on the outskirts of Gotham, that is where you will need to be in order to use it. Be quick, I don't want to wait long."

"I'll try to accommodate you. How would you like to leave? The way you came?"

"Open the window."

Luthor blinked, raising an eyebrow before pressing a button next to where Batman was crouching. The windows opened from the top, providing him with an easy exit out. "You are aware of a certain red and blue menace that would see you exiting from said window, yes?"

"Of course."

"I thought you didn't like gambits?"

"I lied." With that a black-caped blur launched itself from a crouched position, wings spreading into his trademark bat symbol, gliding towards the bat-pod, Gotham and safety. He was planning on attracting said menace's attention. Best way to do that was to make one hell of an exit, and if there was one thing that he knew how to do, Batman certainly knew how to make an exit. He also had something special in a certain lead-lined pouch that would give him just enough of a head-start to escape if he needed it.

He was expecting the blue blur out of the corner of his eye, which gave him just enough time to snap his 'wings' to his body and dive down underneath him. Superman jolted slightly as he missed, watching as the wings extended once more, giving him the lift that he needed to soar over a building that he would have otherwise crashed into. Superman blinked, and finally gave a low whistle. So _that_ was what he meant by 'fly'.

He immediately took off after him, hearing the sounds of the surprised populace below pointing up, their focus the shadow of the Batman and the one chasing after. Batman ran along the roof before once again dropping out of reach, wings spread and allowing him to swoop. Superman was admittedly hesitant to catch him, mainly amazed at the fact that he had managed to avoid him. As Batman dropped into a spin and he missed again he found himself almost laughing. He finally took to seeing how close he could get. He had heard about the break-in at WayneTech. He figured that was the reason Batman had been to see Lex Luthor.

It was a lazy chase for the both of them; anyone else looking up would have seen it as something Superman was really trying to do, which was naturally the plan. In a way he was, almost curious to how far he would have to push himself in order to finally tackle him. They were nearing the border faster than Superman had expected. Finally, they were close enough that Superman dove in, attempting to catch the other in a full-nelson. He wasn't expecting the elbow to his face and the way he was used as a makeshift springboard, booted feet implanting themselves into his gut and launching the other across the border where he rolled into a standing position on the other side.

Superman rubbed at his nose ruefully, touching down on the other side of the border.

"That hurt."

"You're the 'man of steel,' there's no way that hurt." The statement was practically spat out, hiding the shock at what had to be some lame attempt at a joke. He had known that the other didn't believe he had killed anyone, but the fact that he was joking with him threw an entirely different spin on it.

"You have a very sharp elbow." Superman grinned slightly and finally cleared his throat. "What were you doing in Metropolis?"

"You know what I was doing; collecting the technology Luthor's lackeys stole."

"Why didn't Bruce let me know?"

"They also stole this." The lead-lined pouch was flicked open, Batman holding up the glowing chunk of green kryptonite with a sneer on his face. Superman jolted back, clutching at his head in agony before it was put away and sealed. "He didn't want you to get hurt by WayneTech resources. He figured that was LuthorCorp's job, not his."

"What does WayneTech have to do with kryptonite?"

"You heard of kryptonite poisoning?"

"…No, what's that?"

"It can affect humans. Kryptonite gives out low-level radiation; this can eventually lead to something like cancer. WayneTech is working on finding a way to counteract it. There are some people who have it already, people that didn't know what precisely they were buying. It looks a bit like jade; they'll give it to loved ones as earrings or necklaces…"

"I didn't know that."

Batman sneered slightly. "Apparently."

"So, you got what you came for?"

"Yes."

"You're off then?"

"Naturally. I have a city to get back to."

"So you do…"

Superman hesitated for a moment and started to take off before he heard something. "Superman."

"Yes?" He asked, turning around and looking at the one who was staring up at him, white lenses glowing in the darkness.

"The only thing I ask is that you trust me."

Superman paused, hovering above him, the darkness of Gotham behind the one he was looking at finding his home in the shadows. He frowned, blue eyes sparking with confusion before finally smiling. "Sure. I'll trust you. I trust Mr. Wayne's judgment. I also know you're not the type to kill anyone."

Batman made a noncommittal noise, walking over to the bat-pod and straddling it, the engine roaring to life as he turned it on. If it wasn't for Superman's hearing he might have missed the quietly muttered, "I might kill Luthor, though…"

Superman spluttered, turned around to comment, and found him roaring away down the road back to Gotham. He finally couldn't help it. He threw his head back and laughed. Seemed there might actually be a sense of humor under all that stoicism after all.

It wasn't until the Man of Steel got home and had changed into his pajamas as Clark Kent, turning the bedside lamp off and curling up under the covers, that he realized he might not have been joking.

….

Gordon and Harvey waited on the rooftop that had been specified, coffee held in hand as they stood next to each other, talking quietly. It wasn't long before a familiar rustling of black fabric caught their attention. They turned around, Gordon revealed to be holding another cup that he offered to the man. Batman took it in slight surprise, huffing out a quiet, "Thanks."

"No problem, figured you might need it, what with the nights you pull," Harvey started.

"Think of it as congratulations for making it back here in one piece," Gordon finished.

"Right." They laughed, smiling at the slight surprise when Batman found that his cup contained tea.

"Remembered you said you preferred that." Gordon smirked quietly as Batman took another sip.

"So I did."

"How did it go?" Harvey asked.

Batman paused, allowing the two men to take brief drinks of their coffee, and answered. "Lex Luthor recruited me. I'm going to be a villain."

The immediate hot spray of coffee was blocked by a cape, the two of them hissing, "What?!" as loud as they could without attracting too much attention.

"I've been recruited. He's going to try to kill Superman, and then he's going to try and come to Gotham in order to kill the rest of the League. I got him to agree to that."

"But…but…"

"You're going to let him try and kill Superman?" Gordon hissed out, fingers tightening into fists.

"He won't be able to. Aside from the fact that one of the League is a shape-shifter, he's given himself blood poisoning."

"What do you mean?"

"He had a chunk of kryptonite that he was carrying around in his pocket for years. If he doesn't begin to show symptoms soon…"

"Please tell me that pocket was lined with lead." Gordon rubbed at his forehead with one hand quietly.

"No."

"…This man thinks he's a genius?" Harvey asked finally, blinking in something like bafflement, the two men of the law finally cracking up. "Oh God, this is horrible, we're laughing about some poor idiot giving himself blood-poisoning." They paused, looked at each other and finally laughed harder. "Well, I'll give him this much, he's picked an awful way to die."

"No kidding."

The two of them finally gained control of themselves, sighing. "Well, to Lex Luthor, the biggest egotistical jackass this World has ever known. May he rest in peace." Harvey raised his styrofoam cup, the other two joining him.

"If someone doesn't jump on his grave."

"Or piss on it."

Two of them laughed, one of them smirking, cups clicking together before they were drained.

"What happens if he does survive?"

"Then I'll follow through. I'll alert you to what they're doing and when you get the chance you nail them. I brought them to Gotham for a reason. I trust the law enforcement here."

"What happens when they realize you were never on their side?"

Batman was silent for a moment. "It's a gambit; we'll get to that when it happens."


	12. The

"Lex Luthor is in jail?" Bruce blinked, accepting the newspaper Harvey held out to him, from his position balanced on the arm of the couch. Jim was actually sitting on the couch, Bruce across from them in an armchair, a table between them. They were in the penthouse Bruce Wayne was still living at, the three of them holding an impromptu meeting. Alfred walked in behind them, placing two cups of coffee and one of tea in front of them.

"About bloody time." Alfred's quiet comment made them look at him in surprise. He raised an eyebrow at them in return, finally causing outright laughter.

"Well, one thing's for sure, his reputation is completely destroyed. I would almost pity the man, dying in prison? That's rather far to sink… But yeah, you'll notice that date's for two days ago. I'm surprised you didn't know. You do own that paper you know…" Harvey pointed out.

'The Golden Globe' was emblazoned along the top of the newspaper, Bruce regarding it with something like a half-smirk. "Yes, well, I don't typically read it. I had other reasons for buying that paper…" The significant look they were graced with made them blink.

"Well, I suppose one good thing came of this." Harvey leaned back slightly, smirking to himself.

"What's that, Mr. Dent, aside from the obvious of getting one filthy degenerate where he belongs?"

"A certain Bat won't have to play the villain."

"Villain?" Alfred asked immediately, raising an eyebrow, and turning his attention to Bruce with interest. "What precisely do you mean by that, Mr. Dent?"

"Um…" Both Gordon and Dent stared at each other, stared at a widely false-smiling Bruce Wayne who had an expression somewhere between downright terrified and somehow threatening. "He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Oh, well… The Batman is…"

"It's nothing, Alfred. Just a bit of a gamble."

"Master Wayne, you are quite aware of what I think about gambling, especially when the stakes could be your life."

"Alfred, I gamble with that every day. Every night I go out, someone could get lucky. However, you said it yourself. If there is one thing I have in spades it's luck. Luck to be the last surviving member of the Wayne family…luck to be able to deal with people like Superman and get out. Trust me, Alfred. I know what I'm doing. Seems like my luck will hold. I won't have to play the villain."

"What happens when that luck runs out, Mr. Wayne?"

"Simple. I'll die. But I'll die doing what's right, and that's more than enough for me."

He stood up then, gave a short nod of the head and left three men sitting in speculative silence. Alfred stood up shakily, walking over to a cabinet which he opened to reveal a single full bottle of Macallan. "Master Wayne does not have much alcohol, gentlemen, in fact; this is the only bottle in the house. He found it amusing that someone would send him something to drink that was older than he was so he kept it. If you gentlemen wouldn't mind sharing it with me…" They shook their heads, standing up and walking over to where Alfred was standing, removing three glass tumblers from the rack. He poured a finger-full in each; looking at them all with quiet sincerity he raised his glass. "If you don't mind, I would like to propose a toast, to a man Bruce Wayne might have been, to a husband and a father and an old man. I believe it is quite easy to say that he will wind up being none, but I don't believe I shall ever lose hope for such."

"To Bruce Wayne." It was a simple statement, echoed by each of them, the drink swallowed calmly.

Another finger-full was poured, Harvey hesitating, rolling the glass around in his fingers. "I probably have no right to do this. I've done…terrible things in a moment where I should have known better. I made his life that much harder and I can't even begin to tell you how much I've been kicking myself for it… I'll be repaying that debt for the rest of my life, but if I can, I would like to make another toast, to Batman himself. May he continue to save Gotham for as long as she needs him, and may his 'luck' never run out."

"To Batman."

….

Batman sent his fist into the man's stomach, doubling him up, vomit splashing as he choked, his back elbowed harshly and he was sent to the pavement, right knee snapped with his own. He turned towards another man as he wound himself up, holding a switchblade in a grip that was much too tight, and hands trembling in fear. For a moment he didn't think he'd have to contend with him overly much, before the man swung out deftly. The hand with the knife was grabbed, twisted, and the elbow hyper-extended as he drove his own into it. A pain-filled cry split the air and the man found himself slammed into a wall face first. The other two standing there looked at him, looked at each other, and finally began to run.

Unfortunately, they were dealing with a Batman who could not afford to show mercy. The police would not take his gift-wrapped parcels anymore, not trusting his word that they had been doing something nefarious, and the girl…the girl behind him he doubted would be able to tell anyone, let alone want to. They were strung up around the ankles, sent falling to the ground, and pulled back to a black shadow, screaming and scrabbling at the pavement, nails cracking off as they attempted to claw themselves away. Batman lifted them up, slammed them into the building, their heads cracking against the concrete. A knee was brought up into the area just above the second man's groin, the pelvic arch snapping against it, the man released to fall to the ground moaning in pain. The other stared at his fallen comrade and finally met eyes with the man standing before him, blue eyes wide with terror, sweat beading and trickling down his face.

"Please, please, have mercy, I won't do it again, I swear!"

"No. You won't." The move was repeated, the man following the other, clutching at his groin and sobbing. Black eyes focused on a woman cowering against the back-alley, her mouth open in terror, her shirt ripped; unable to move for fear that her rescuer would decide to kill her should she make any sudden movements. Her outfit was clingy in all the wrong ways, looking almost painted on, her heels ridiculously high and her purse clutched loosely in one hand. Batman frowned, tossed her a cell-phone and gave a quiet instruction: "Call the police, get help." Then he was gone. He had her face memorized, all bony cheekbones and too large blue eyes. He would see if the Wayne Foundation could help her. He knew a prostitute when he saw one, apparently so had they.

Each of the men had been given debilitating fractures, almost sure signs that they would be unable to harm someone else again. He could not afford to leave it to the police. After the Joker's rampage Gotham was still having trouble getting itself back on its feet, judges refusing to prosecute out of fear. Gordon's unit was doing the best it could, but with public opinion against Batman the Force found it hard to accept the ones left behind. It was cases like these that made it harder, the woman running down the street in too high heels, sobbing, the thought of calling the police as far away from her mind as possible. Batman watched her go and felt that if something didn't happen soon, something big that gave Gotham the hope it needed to shove itself upright and dust itself off, that there would continue to be more people like her.

He continued on his patrol, jolting at the sound of a buzzing coming from the ear in his cowl. He knew what that meant. Batman had a moment to reflect that it seemed his luck had run out, and pressed the button recessed underneath it. "Luthor. You escaped."

"_I had help; the Ultra-Humanite is with me. He was most curious as to why I brought him here."_

"I would expect that most of your _team_ would be as well."

"_Yes, I have to admit, I am looking forward to the expressions on their faces when they realize precisely who it is we will be meeting. You said you would have an area ready for us. I understand that you may have expected to receive more time, but I am afraid I haven't got time." _

"I heard."

"_Which is why we must make this quick. Where am I heading?"_

"Outskirts of the city, abandoned tourist attraction known as 'The Virgin of Nuremberg.'"

"_Sounds…appealing."_

"Just wait till you see what's inside it…" Batman had chosen the location for several reasons; it kept them out of Gotham itself and therefore posed less harm to the general populace. The other was for the simple reason that sticking them in that particular building amused a rather immature part of him. 'The Virgin of Nuremberg' had been a very life-like medieval torture exhibit at one time, the remains of such things left inside it. He had already fixed it with a decent computer and security system, as well as one other device that he expected them to find interesting. A machine that created a mental barrier for the one strapped inside it, sedatives used to keep the one it was used on from using their superior strength to break the restraints, and something else he expected Luthor would quite enjoy. He had one in particular he was planning to use it on, but he would have to rely on his slowly waning luck to be able to convince him…

….

Harvey rolled over on his bed, scrabbling for the telephone on the bedside cabinet, fingers finally closing around it and lifting it up to his ear. Two o'clock in the morning… "This had better be pretty damn important…"

"_My luck ran out, Dent."_ The growl in his ear was instantly recognizable and Harvey jolted bolt upright in bed, eyes widening as his fingers tightened on the phone.

"What do you mean? Where are you, are you hurt?"

"…_No, I'm not hurt."_

"Thank God! Don't do that to me; we just had this heavy conversation about you bleeding to death in an alley somewhere…" Harvey groaned in exasperation. "And now I'm wide-awake with the image of your bleeding crumpled body somewhere…"

"_Dent, if that was the case, I wouldn't be calling _you_." _

"Good point, just…don't do that again, please. Now, I take it there's a reason you called me and not Gordon?"

"_Gordon went home tonight."_

"He did? That's great! Had dinner with the wife and kids?"

"_Yes."_

"Good, that's very good, I forgive you. What _do_ you mean exactly about your luck running out?"

"_Lex Luthor broke out of prison."_

"…No."

"_And he just called me."_

"…Please…tell me you're joking…"

"_I sent him and the Ultra-Humanite to 'The Virgin of Nuremberg.' They have a team that should be meeting there shortly."_

"You sent them to that medieval torture exhibit?"

"_Yes." _

"You have a wicked sense of humor. I swear, it's something right up your alley, either that or theirs. That's hilarious."

"_Most villains when they team up don't go where there's lots of dangerous weaponry. Unfortunately for them, I'm rather counting on them killing each other…"_

"You won't actually let them do that, will you?"

"_No, but it's tempting." _

"I can certainly understand that… What do you want me to do about it?"

"_Nothing. Not yet. I'll contact you when I need you. We'll bust their entire operation. They've never been to Gotham. They don't know how we're willing to handle things and I'll be clear about my policy on hostages."_

"Alright. I'll let Gordon know what's going on when I see him." The other line hung up, and Harvey sighed, placing the phone back on the cradle and lying back. He supposed he could only wish the other luck and felt immediate disgust at the thought. He wanted to be able to do more.

….

"Amusing décor." The comment came from a large ape-like creature, clothed in a red and gold combination. His head was bulging, blue veins standing out even through the white of his fur. He was running his hand over the imitation Maiden the establishment had received its name from, the spikes inside it likely made of rubber or something else to make it safer.

"Yes, it is really. Although…" Luthor narrowed his eyes in consideration before reaching out, running a finger along the spikes. "Well…I'll be damned, Gothamites really are a vicious lot, this is the real thing."

"Fascinating, I really wonder why he chose this place in particular, however… You don't suppose he uses some of these instruments?" Ultra-Humanite looked around closely, the originally gaudy state of the room turning a bit more sinister. "I actually rather like it…he's a bit old fashioned in his technique, but it's quite true that these do work. The psychological impact alone should be quite interesting to watch."

"The use of such instruments seems unnecessarily messy. I prefer a bit more class to such things."

"Most definitely, it's so hard to come by things of good quality, with that said…you cannot deny their effectiveness. Now, who is this 'other' that you keep referring to? Is he the reason we're in Gotham instead of Metropolis?" The white ape asked, raising an eyebrow at him in question. The silent question of her Guardian was implied. The villains had begun fearing the Knight. Joker's foray only proved that he could be driven into killing the ones who were guilty.

"He is, however…I wish to explain the reasoning for this only once. We shall wait for the others to arrive. I expect he would be truly interested when he sees precisely who I've decided to invite. Some of them he's dealt with before."

"'Dealt with'? My…now you truly have caught my interest."

"It will be enjoyable, I shall tell you that much. Now, let's see what he's left for us aside from these…devices."

…

Batman crouched near the skylight, black cape and motionless stance making him almost completely invisible against the black inky skyline of Gotham. He held a pair of binoculars to his eyes, watching as a form slowly approached the entrance. It had a tail and the fur and face of a particular African cat, but her form was all human female. Cheetah. Batman smirked. He had dealt with her once before, ran her out of Gotham once, and she had never returned. He wondered how she would deal with the others who had entered.

He watched as Cheetah and Copperhead, who naturally had modeled his costume on the snake he took his name after, a copper color with an actual tail, green used for gloves and boots, bickered with each other. At first the two began fighting violently with each other until they actually took a moment to converse. Copperhead apparently said something either too flirty or too insulting, Cheetah reacting with a swipe from her clawed fingers. Once again they were fighting. Solomon Grundy walked forward then, too large and too tall to be believed, his suit ripped and tattered. Yet with all that brute force, Solomon had a brain the size of a walnut. Bruce watched as they started fighting once again, almost sighing at the state of villains, he looked up for a moment, regarding a bright pink speck that was coming closer and moved inside the actual building into the top floor, vanishing almost entirely.

He had been expecting her.

It was then that the room suddenly went completely and totally dark. The sudden darkness was pressing, yet the cowl was able to enhance his night vision to the point where he could see. He saw the other man who had been waiting in the shadows walk forward then. The Shade, dressed in a neat black suit with a top hat, as well as dark glasses, and most importantly, a cane that could create darkness. His skin was almost as chalky-white as Solomon Grundy's. He had been an interesting villain to contend against. Unfortunately for him, he forgot that Bats could see in the dark.

Batman watched as he introduced himself to the others, actually agreeing with him when he referred to the others as 'unruly children'. He didn't like that, agreeing with them was bad… It was then that the Star Sapphire made her entrance, the gem embedded into her high, double-pointed, scarlet mask that went down around her shoulders emitting a beam that ripped the stick away from his clutches. "Please, without this you're just a man in a top hat…" Her tight black leotard was accompanied by boots that went up to her hips, and gloves that went up to her elbows. She landed amongst them, Cheetah welcoming her with a growl.

"Common criminals…is this what I've been reduced to?" She scoffed, holding the cane she had swiped from the supposed Master of Darkness over her shoulder calmly.

"Criminals, yes, but common? Never." The voice was instantly familiar, Lex Luthor descending with the Ultra-Humanite down the stairs, wearing a purple jacket with a black gun-holster over it. His pants were green as were his gloves, black boots ending at the knee covering his feet. There were multiple pockets decorating his jacket.

"Lex Luthor? Well, the plot thins…" Shade spoke calmly, taking his cane back from Star Sapphire.

"Cheetah, Sapphire, Grundy, glad you could make it. And of course you're all familiar with the Ultra-Humanite?"

"Charmed, I'm sure." The ape gave a small bow.

"Cut the courtesies, Luthor, what do you want?" Copperhead spat out, glaring.

"Each of you is the best in the world at what you do, and I have need of your unique services…" Luthor spoke calmly, flattering.

"My talents don't come cheaply." Cheetah spoke calmly, her voice almost a purr.

"You will all be paid most handsomely, if you can only do one simple job…"

"What _kind_ of job?" Shade asked.

"Destroy Superman, and the Justice League."

"Well…that'll be easy." The sarcasm in his voice was evident, but Copperhead still seemed decidedly nonchalant about it.

"I just have one question. Why are we in Gotham when they have that…Bat problem?" Cheetah asked quietly, her ears laying back.

Batman took his cue. Dropping down into their midst as a black shadow he stood up calmly, white eyes regarding them evenly as they tensed, moving to fight, even as he answered. "Because I invited you."

They froze, blinking, focusing on the one who stood there and turning to Luther, seeing the wide smile on his face as he stepped forward.

"My, you have perfect timing. I rather like what you've done to the place, that security system, and that computer? Impressive, most impressive. I might be taking some cues from it…"

"What's he doing here? What's going on? Is this some form of trick?" Shade asked immediately, weakly brandishing his cane. He was wary of the other, knowing precisely how little use that cane served.

"He wants what we want. Surely you have heard…" Lex started.

"You want the Justice League gone, so do I. I have little use for people that are willing to sit back and do nothing as Gotham is ravaged. Which brings me to a bargain I'm willing to make…you stay out of Gotham, I won't hunt you down. You can take over the entire world if you want when the League is gone, I don't care. You leave Gotham alone, and I won't bring you down, the only other force that can truly contest your attempts to loot whatever they have will be defeated. After they're gone, you'll never see or hear from me again, so long as that one term is fulfilled…"

"What makes you think you can bring me down, little bat?"

Batman focused on Star Sapphire immediately, smirking quietly, he walked directly up to her and whispered something in her ear. Sapphire's eyes widened, her mouth falling open into a look of absolute horror. She backed away from him instantly, Batman watching her go coldly, the others staring at him in equal fright. They were aware of what he was capable of. They wanted none of it.

"So…stay out of Gotham and you won't punch our faces in?" At a look Copperhead changed his tune, "Okay, I'll make that 'stay out of Gotham and we won't be killed slowly and painfully.' Well... I for one am quite willing to take that deal. Gotham, no offense to you intended, is not exactly the cream of the crop when it comes to valuables… And, I can tell when someone's help would be absolutely _in_valuable, what do you think, guys?"

The others looked at each other, looking at the man standing there that was shorter than some of them had expected, but radiated menace and such absolute confidence that they couldn't help but be hesitant.

"Sure. I say we let the little Bat join. He's filled with surprises…" Sapphire's voice was cold, her arms crossed over her chest and her expression slightly injured, but there was something like approval in there.

"I'm perfectly game."

"Capital idea."

"Why not…"

Solomon Grundy seemed to consider, each of them staring at him, even Batman looking at him in interest before he finally smiled widely and clapped the other on the back. Bruce felt his knees attempt to buckle, the sudden force of the blow almost laying him flat. He refused to twitch. "Grundy like Batty-Man."

They almost laughed, almost, if it wasn't for that slight stiffening and tilt of the head that let them know that if they were to laugh, they would most likely die.

"So, how are we to get the League's attention?" Luthor asked. "Do we hold up a bank? Take some hostages?"

"You take hostages from this city and I will hunt you down and kill you. I don't care about the League, but this city is to remain safe."

"Understood, but how are we going to get their attention?"

Batman smirked quietly before holding up a watch.

"This watch contacts Superman. We use this."


	13. People

Batman waited on the top floor of the building, watching as Gordon and his men formed around the Gotham Federal Building, taking part in a hostage situation. Harvey Dent was stationed near the Commissioner, the both of them looking towards where Ultra-Humanite leaned out of the doorway, a gun aiming at the black-haired woman in his hand. Batman had activated the watch, a sure invitation to let the heroes know they could enter Gotham. While it was typically used to contact Superman, the other had let it be known through a quiet talk to Bruce Wayne that if Batman ever needed help, all that was necessary was to activate the watch and the team would assemble. The only thing he could do now was wait.

He listened as Gordon indicated one of his men, speaking into the megaphone calmly and clearly. "Humanite, let the hostage go, and I'll let you take one of my men in return."

"What do you take me for, a troglodyte? No deal." Humanite shoved his gun closer to her head, the woman hanging limply, her face hidden from view.

Harvey Dent snatched the megaphone immediately, calling out to him, "What if I traded myself instead?"

Humanite hesitated, speaking softly into the small microphone hidden in the fur along his neck. "The D.A. himself, Gotham's White Knight. Batman, this is perfect."

"No. Stick to the plan," The voice in his ear commanded and Humanite found himself forced to comply.

Humanite sighed before answering. "Unfortunately, there can be no deal." He aimed his weapon out at them. The Gotham SWAT and police teams aimed their weapons in reply, cocking them in return, something that made him blink in confusion. They would endanger the hostage? Suddenly what seemed to be green light encased his gun, removing it from his hand as he let out a startled cry.

"Hands off the weapon Magilla." The Green Lantern floated before them, the Force somewhere between surprised and pleased. A moment later and Superman managed to connect with the gorilla as Humanite's hold on the hostage slipped in surprise. They were both sent flying into the building. John Stewart hovering as Flash zipped forth between the officers and up to the woman lying there.

"You see if the girl's alright, I'll look for other hostages." John ordered, Flash nodding.

He hesitated, hand on the woman's shoulder as he spoke softly, using the voice he had perfected for people in this sort of situation. "Hey, it's alright, you're safe now, you can go."

"I may be safe…" Flash watched as she slowly pushed herself onto her hands before finishing the statement. "But you're not." She let out a growl that was not supposed to come out of human lips, the 'hostage' swinging back with clawed fingers that sliced deep into his shoulder. For once he was too shocked to react.

John Stewart hesitated, hearing the shout of pain from his friend and turning to see what had happened. Grundy took that moment to burst through the door he had been going to enter, and send him flying backward with a painful cry of his own. Superman looked over from where he stood, pinning the Humanite to a pillar, horrified, as Grundy proceeded to jump through the hole he had sent the other through, landing on him. A pink beam of light behind him sent Superman to the ground, releasing the Humanite.

Star Sapphire hovered there, her hand placed on her hip, a smile on her mouth as she asked a sneering question, "Surprised?"

Flash found himself contending with both Cheetah and Copperhead, the two of them attempting their best to catch him. After the initial surprise, Flash had been zipping around them like crazy, calling out various taunts as they grew increasingly frustrated. "So, what are you, the Crazy Cat Lady? Because I can totally see it, you were in your house one day surrounded by all your cats, and then realized just how much you wanted to look like them. And you, what happened? Did everyone keep calling you a snake in the grass until you finally decided to take them literally?"

Superman wobbled to his feet unsteadily, focusing just enough to see Solomon Grundy charge him with a bellow. Both fists connected with the Man of Steel's face, sending him flying backwards. All the while, Lex Luthor looked on with a smirk. "I am going to enjoy this…"

Grundy continued pummeling Superman backwards, finally throwing him to the ground, creating his own mini-crater before pounding away on him. Hawkgirl took that moment to arrive, crashing through the window and swinging her electrified mace at him with a war cry, sending Solomon flying into a pillar that collapsed on top him.

Flash happily teased and taunted both of the ones attacking him and send them into a rage-filled frenzy, when Cheetah found herself caught by Wonder Woman's magic lasso as Flash finally managed to send Copperhead out for the count.

Cheetah was furious, gnashing her teeth as she pried unsuccessfully at the rope, calling, "Let me go!" up at a stoic Diana.

Flash smirked up at her, "Relax lady, this will all be over before you know it." He immediately zipped off. He missed the man stepping out from a wall of darkness, a smirk on his face as he raised his cane.

"That's what you think…"

Flash was encased in darkness from that rather special cane, unable to see, he kept running until crashing into a door at near top-speed, sending him to the ground unmoving.

Hawkgirl and Sapphire took their battle to the air, the two of them dodging and attacking. Shayera finally managed to get the upper hand, her mace connecting against the pink shield that kept the woman both afloat and protected with such force that Sapphire was sent backwards with a cry. Shade's cane struck again, encasing the woman in blackness before she could react or follow through. Hawkgirl froze, trapped in her own prison of darkness and silence, and fall to the ground below.

Batman watched this from his position in a far corner of the building, admittedly surprised when Flash managed to shake himself out of his stupor and immediately attack the Shade as soon as he saw what had happened. Hawkgirl was released from her prison of darkness, immediately gasping in a deep lungful of air. "You alright?" He asked before a sudden blast of pink about hit him. Flash jerked backwards, looking up as Star Sapphire went around for another assault. That was when J'onn made his entrance, hitting her at the perfect time to send her beam into the ceiling, directly above Diana. Wonder Woman was forced to let go of her lasso as the floor above collapsed down towards her, breaking it into pieces and sending it harmlessly to either side as Cheetah took the moment of distraction to escape.

Batman hesitated, desperately trying to keep himself centered mentally, thinking only of what he needed, before calling out to J'onn. The Martian hesitated, and then passed his instructions onto Superman. The Kryptonian blinked, and immediately followed them. Batman was waiting, his mouth tugged into something that reminded him of an apology, white lenses boring into his soul. Next moment everything went dark, both for the Man of Steel, and everyone else.

When the light returned, he was gone, with the rest of the temporary villain alliance, Gordon and his men immediately rushing in with weapons drawn. They were not taking any chances. J'onn found Flash, realizing he had been bit by Copperhead, the snake-styled criminal lying limply nearby, taken out before the other succumbed to the venom running through his veins. He was also shocked to see the syringe and the note left on top of him: 'Trust Me,' it read. J'onn knew that the Flash's metabolism was as sped up as everything else about him, that poison would kill him and quickly. He had no other choice; he injected the serum, tearing away at the sleeve of a red costume in order to get at a vein.

The rest of his team found them then, staring down at him in hope, begging, pleading that whatever J'onn had done, it had worked. As Flash's pulse rate slowed from the frantic jack-hammering it had been going at before and he began to stir they relaxed. "How do you feel?" John asked as Flash finally groaned, sitting upright slowly.

"Horrible, but better than I had. What happened?"

"Copperhead got you." John looked worried, crouching down next to his friend.

"How am I still alive?"

J'onn hesitated, well aware of the two men behind them, and his mind reached out, _"A gift from Batman." _

The other blinked, smiled and finally laughed. "Should have known."

"So…I take it you couldn't catch all of them?" Gordon asked quietly, J'onn standing up and turning to face him. Harvey Dent stood next to him, the two of them presenting a single united front, complete with crossed arms and raised eyebrows.

"No, there were more than anticipated." J'onn looked over to Copperhead, his team taking a quick mental-stock of everything. It was then that Flash noticed something distressing.

"Hey, where's Superman?"

They hesitated, looking at him, before looking at each other, worry flashing through them as one. Gordon and Dent hesitated, unsure how to handle the heroes in front of them. "Look, if you want police resources to help you find him…"

"We thank you for your offer, but we cannot accept." J'onn responded quietly, he noticed the way the two of them stiffened, but Batman's instructions had been clear.

"Fine. We wish you luck. We're taking Copperhead."

"Understood."

…..

Luthor was angry. The man paced with his arms behind his back, brooding furiously, his voice finally cracking out like a whip. "'The best at what you do.' What was I thinking?"

"We did everything we could." Cheetah spoke in a placating manner, unsurprised when he rounded on her, even as her ears went back reflexively.

"Did you? Did you fight like your lives depended on it; did you fight to the last man?" He stopped in front of Shade, the one who had voted on a tactical retreat.

"You get what you pay for, Luthor…"

Lex felt his blood boil, his teeth gritting as he leaned forward. "Are you saying you want _more_ money? You want to be rewarded for failure? I ought to take the whole lot of you and…"

Grundy's hand closed around his throat, sending his rant to a choking halt as he was brought in front of the behemoth, staring into his dark-rimmed eyes.

"And what?" Solomon demanded, tightening his fist slowly.

"Go ahead, do it, you'll be saving me from months of bedpans and feeding tubes. And you'll also guarantee that not a single one of you will see a penny from me." Lex pointed at them, his words ringing true.

"You're crazy." Grundy snarled, letting go of him.

Another voice joined in, a dark voice that filled the room from top to bottom. "You should never make deals with madmen." Batman fell into their midst, dropping a limp Superman to the floor. They blinked, staring at him and at the one at their feet, eyes widening in amazement. "You also should never offer money to those that can't deliver."

Batman walked over to the Virgin of Nuremberg, the device that the place was named after. He pressed a button on the back of it, the spikes retracting into the metal, replaced by holes that began to shine with a familiar red light. Their eyes widened, watching as he simply lifted the alien up, and stood him upright in the machine, two IV needles inserted into his veins as they were found. A moment later and he was closed in, completely unharmed, but also helpless.

"What about the Martian? Can't he read minds?" Luthor asked, barely daring to hope.

"He could, if the machine breaks. He's not going anywhere. It locks, and I'm sure you're aware of what red sunlamps do to him… Find a way to use this." He tossed a small remote to him, a smirk crossing his face as they realized what it was he had just given them.

"This is fantastic…you…" Luthor looked like he could hug the other, eyes bright as it seemed that all his dreams would be realized. He laughed then, throwing his head back and just howling with laughter. They realized then that he truly was as crazy as they feared, joy flooding his senses as he realized he wouldn't die in vain. "Thank you."

"Be careful. I hear they don't like intruders." He had been about to vanish into nothingness when Ultra-Humanite cleared his throat softly.

"If I could make a request, would you mind speaking to me for a moment later? There is something I want to ask you." Batman hesitated, before finally inclining his head, and seemed to vanish into the blackness he seemed so fond of.

Luthor paused, turning to regard the others with a raised eyebrow and an expression that invited them to worm their way out of this one. "Well…so _this_ is what it's like to have competent help. I'm giving you another chance to get your money and to secure the deal that Batman made you. An entire world at your disposal, minus a single city…and of course, Metropolis…"

They looked at each other, their expressions on the edge of absolutely euphoric. They were going to do it. The plan was simple; Shade, Solomon, and Sapphire were to go to the Watchtower.  
>Luthor leaned against the Maiden, knocking on the top of it. He finally just laughed, and walked away, leaving a helpless Kryptonian behind him.<p>

…..

Ultra-Humanite joined the Batman crouched on the roof, his hands placed behind his back calmly. "So, how long has it been since we last encountered each other?"

"You were holding Bruce Wayne hostage." Batman remembered that day clearly. The charity had been going quite well before the ape had crashed the party. The guests were all sent running, all except for one Bruce Wayne who had been specially chosen by the ape for his position and the fact that no one knew what he had been doing. It had been the oddest night of his life. On one hand, Bruce had been desperately attempting to escape and return as Batman, yet on the other…

The Humanite had quoted a work of an obscure Japanese poet, Bruce unable to contain his surprise in a moment that would eventually lead to the Humanite letting him leave unharmed. Harvey and Jim had about fainted when he admitted to holding a conversation with him about the relative merits of Japanese versus American writings. They eventually added 'Able to Charm himself out of a Hostage Situation' to his list of many talents. He had never told them the full story. He really wasn't planning to.

"Yes, a fact I am most saddened by if I am quite honest. He was a wonderful conversationalist. It is very rare you find someone so young with such a thorough knowledge of the works of other cultures. I had been meaning to talk to you earlier, but you vanished before I could."

"What is it?"

"I am aware that you do not wish to kill the League. I am also aware that you do not plan on letting this team win." As Batman tensed, the Humanite held up his hands. "Peace, please, I do not wish to fight you. I learned my lesson the last time. My intention is purely to tell you this: I do not wish for them to win either. I rather liked your own deal at first, but I am aware of something these…uncultured ingrates are not. Hard work is the best kind. If I am to steal something, I wish to have to work for it, I like to earn it. Their deals…unfortunately it doesn't lead to much. But I have one other reason for not wanting them to win… I believe you must know quite a bit about the citizens of Gotham, yes?"

"…"

"Of course, I had considered your insistence about not harming Gothamites strange at first, until you refused Harvey Dent. You worked with him, didn't you, you were friends with him? It does not matter; I'm interested in someone else… You know about Bruce Wayne. Have you ever talked to him?"

"Possibly."

"Was he funding you?"

Batman froze, unsure what to say, yet apparently that was all the answer the other needed. He gave him an indulgent smile.

"It's quite alright if he was, I will not reveal the secret. It merely seemed like something the man would do. He is painfully idealistic and he wants nothing more than the best for his city, you have the exact same problem. With that said, I have another question to ask you. Is it possible you could contact the man for me? He needs to know what precisely they are planning to do to that Watchtower. I believe he helped fund that as well, it would be a shame to let such impressive machinery go to waste."

"Why?"

"I owe him, also, if he is willing to pay double… I will be quite happy to lay the rest of the Guild flat. I find myself loathing Lex Luthor. The man is a pain to work with, insulting, degrading, and has no respect for anyone. The rest of my colleagues are a bit of a pain. I had attempted to call him earlier, but he hung up before I could finish my proposal. I apparently scared him."  
>Batman let a smirk cross his face. "Yes?"<p>

"You startled him. He's been working on a way to stop you all with the aid of the GCPD. His calls are always recorded, if only by him. Call it paranoia."

The Humanite's smile was brilliant. "He is a most impressive young man. I made a good choice when I chose him to be the hostage. What is this?" He asked as Batman held out a roll of paper to him.

"Present for Luthor, in his words 'there's no fun in taunting a dead man.'"

The Ultra-Humanite stared at the blueprints he held in his hands for a moment and finally burst out laughing. "The man is a genius well ahead of his time. Thank him for me."

"You might be able to thank him yourself…"

Flash was at the monitors, lingering traces of poison still making him feel rather nauseous if he ran. That sucked. He sighed, swinging his chair back and forth as he waited for a sign from the rest of the team that had went to interrogate Copperhead. They still didn't know where Superman was. When the shuttle bay doors opened, Flash straightened, ready to zip down and confront the rest of his team, when he saw who precisely was standing there.

Flash hit the intruder alarm, zipping down into the bay, his mind a whirlwind of 'oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…' It was this panic, combined with the sudden blackness that allowed Solomon Grundy to hit him in the head with a convenient metal pipe. The three of them smiled at the unconscious form on the ground and immediately got to work, a single suitcase held in a hand, the contents of it a bomb that would destroy the entire League.

Not everyone could breathe in space, even if the bomb wouldn't be enough to kill them.

The Injustice Guild sat back, watching, even Superman in his claustrophobic red world, feeling unnecessarily groggy, was doing so. While the Guild didn't know it, the IV's that had been inserted under his skin actually led to a mixture of glucose and something else that Batman hadn't gotten a chance to explain to him as he was instructed to play possum, letting him know that the red sunlamps would help. He was quite aware of the fact that they were going to blow up the Watchtower, unsurprised when Luthor couldn't help but step closer to him and speak to the one that he thought couldn't hear him.

"Well, this is it Superman. The end of an era. The destruction of all you have worked for."

Superman was almost certain it would destroy him as well. The family and friends he had made for himself taken from him in an instant. He could only hope that something happened that gave them a warning. But whatever happened, it needed to be soon. He watched from the slit in the Maiden's mask, blue eyes peering out, both the eyes and that red glow that surrounded him invisible from the outside, watching as the shuttle bay opened, as they landed.

The explosion when it happened made his gut clench and his eyes widen. Fear and loss travelled through him in equal measures, and it was all he could do not to scream or rattle against the Maiden. He had made a promise to Batman. He would not fail, even if he felt like his heart was breaking. He had to trust him. He had said he would. The explosion in the Earth's atmosphere cleared.

The Tower was whole.

Luthor threw his chair at the screen, rage filling him from top to bottom. Cheetah reached out, imploring.

"Luthor, calm down, your condition!"

"What do you care, you're just a bunch of incompetent, money-grubbing crooks." He spat the words out. Sapphire immediately stood up from where she had been leaning against a table.

"Well, that's it. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I am leaving." She stood up, turning to walk away.

"Me too." Cheetah stood up then, moving to follow after. To Luthor's shock and further rage, they all started leaving. Superman wondered if Batman had been aware of their relationship and how tumultuous it was. It wouldn't have surprised him if he had planned who precisely was taken into Luthor's fold.

"Wait!" Luthor called, clutching at his chest with his hand. "I'll double your pay."

"What's the point? It's over." Sapphire spat out, hovering a bit higher.

"No! We can still win if we lure them here…" Luthor spoke in desperation, holding a hand out imploringly. "I have a plan, but we've got to stick together."

"Grundy not that dumb." The behemoth stated with a glare, the rest of them walking to the door. They started leaving, until Luthor, in a fit of rage and panic spat out something they couldn't refuse.

"Alright then, triple."

They came back. Superman saw a ripple of black fabric vanish into obscurity on the upper level. Apparently _he_ was intent on making sure they stayed as well… Superman felt himself relax slowly, his body turning lax. He was still unable to get out of the Maiden. He had to wait for the signal and hope that Luthor wouldn't attempt to kill him before it happened. Although he figured Batman wouldn't let it happen. He seemed to hate Luthor's guts almost as much as he did.

Superman stood there in silence, with only the sounds of people walking overhead, and found himself feeling more alone than he ever had. There was something so claustrophobic and cloying about his current surroundings, a combination of lack of power, and legitimate pain making him weak. It was then that the soft rustling of fabric and the thump of someone landing on top of the Maiden was heard. He immediately looked up, the lack of x-ray vision making him smirk slightly. He knew exactly who was standing there, who exactly had his back, and he couldn't help but speak, the words quiet and hesitant.

"Hey, thanks."

"Don't thank me yet…"

…..

In the Watchtower, Flash had regained consciousness enough to tell them what had happened.

"But…how could they have gotten in?"

"Only one way…they must have had Superman's transmitter."

"…But, I didn't see him with them, he ran off, who could have…"

"Batman." J'onn's voice was heavy.

"What?" Diana asked immediately, blinking.

"He contacted me, gave me instructions, and told me to pass them onto Superman. I did so. He handed Superman over." His voice didn't hold much in the way of emotions, but they could hear the way he was beating himself up for not having done anything to help him.

"It's alright." Flash smiled at him, clapping him on the shoulder. "Said to trust him, remember? I'm pretty sure they'll be fine."

"But why would he give _Superman_ to the Injustice Guild, with Luthor?" Shayera asked

"…Well, that I don't know. But I'm pretty sure the guy has his reasons; he did provide that antidote that saved my life, right? We'll just wait for their signal and bust 'em out." Flash smiled, completely certain that he was right, that blind-faith and optimism something they couldn't help but find refreshing.

"Alright. So we'll continue to trust Batman." John sighed.

"I can't believe you were about to doubt him anyway." Flash laughed and leaned back a bit, rubbing at his red-cowled head. "Ow…my head…"

…..

Batman watched with interest as the Ultra-Humanite ran from one end to another, Luthor lying on a table that had a slight resemblance to a scanner, pulsing with green light. He had been stripped to his skivvies and remained lying there calmly. It was the moment he was waiting for. The power that would have to go into that machine would overload the Maiden.

He waited, the white ape running around in his lab coat, flipping switches and dials, the green light turning brighter, Luthor lying there prone. He watched as the top part of what looked like a vest lowered, one that was dark green and had dark panels. A moment later and the lower part was fitted to the back. There was a surge of electricity, Luthor crying out in pain as it fused and those panels glowed with light.

As the Humanite reached for the off button, the entire thing powered down, everything turned dark, and shouts of surprise filled the air. Batman took his cue, dropping down amongst them in a whisper of black fabric, Sapphire's glow casting a faintly pink cast to him. It was a credit to him that not a single one of them reacted in any way other than horrified and questioning.

"What happened?" Luthor asked loudly, confusion mounting.

"The Ape short-circuited the building."

"What?" They looked at him in horror.

"But, I was certain that the building had adequate…"

"Save it, is the Kryptonian still trapped?" Luthor snapped.

"The red sunlamps are gone…" Batman vanished after his simple statement, smirking as he went.

"We're in a sinking ship!"

"Relax, I have a plan, besides, we have time before he can do anything. He's sedated; he also hasn't been in direct sunlight for a while. We have time." They set to work immediately; Luthor creating a suit with the Humanite's help that would harness the kryptonite in his system and use it as a weapon. Humanite had started the generator, enough to power the lights but not the Maiden, the entirety of them ignoring the fact that they had a Kryptonian in their home base, taking it for granted that he was sedated. It took them longer than they had hoped. They were working desperately, certain that at any second they would be interrupted by the League crashing the building.

They weren't expecting what actually happened.

When no one was looking a fist flew out of nowhere and slammed into the back of Star Sapphire's skull, sending her out like a light. Canisters of teargas exploded into the room from all windows, immediately sending most of them into a hacking mess.

The police had arrived; there were no hostages that were in immediate danger, Superman having escaped from the Maiden as soon as the power went out. They weren't sure what effect that gas would have on him. They were taking them down. The gas was joined by loud commands from Gordon to drop to the ground, hands over their heads or they would shoot. The smoke eventually cleared, the Shade's cane broken by Harvey Dent, standing there calmly with a gasmask over his face. Grundy was unable to move from his curled up position, that extra ingredient to the gas reacting badly with his system.

Lex Luthor wasn't about to go down without a fight, letting out a yell of frustration, he aimed directly at Gordon, before a yellow pole was rammed into the back of his suit, arcs of electricity spitting from it violently. Luthor screamed in pain. He fell, the pole used on the members of his team one after another, sending them into unconscious heaps, before the Ultra-Humanite dropped it and held up his hands.

"I surrender." His words were calm and clear and they smirked.

"That's what he said you would say."

"Yes, well, what can I say, billionaires speak my language."

They were cuffed and led out of the building. As they left, the League assembled, mouths dropping and eyes bugging as they saw what was happening. Superman flew up to meet them, smiling slightly.

"Hey, Justice League…" Dent called up to them, smiling. "What took you so long? You alright?"

"Yeah, typically you'd be here by now. What happened?" Gordon asked, the Gothamites clustered around him beaming up at them. Flash blinked a few times and finally burst out laughing.

He zipped forward, smiling. "Well, we had been waiting for a signal from this guy. We haven't really been to Gotham much. I myself have actually never been here. It's a cool city, lots of neat things to look at. You guys did an excellent job, how were you able to nab these guys?"

Just like that he had won them completely over, glowing with pride and smiling they made a quiet path back to the mastermind.

"Bruce Wayne?" They blurted out, shocked.

The man was standing rather timidly, obviously completely out of his element, a bulletproof vest across his chest and a slight smirk on his mouth. "Hey, um… Would you believe I decided for a moment that I wanted to be a cop?"

They laughed, unable to truly help it. "You know what, Wayne, I could honestly believe that. How…how did you-?"

"Well, we figured out it was Luthor pretty early on, and…where is he anyway?"

"Mr. Wayne, you don't have to have anything to do with him anymore. It's fine." Gordon spoke calmly and clearly, the other man looking somewhere between in shock and downright distressed.

"No, no, I have to. I'm a man of my word, and I…ah, Ultra-Humanite!" He immediately walked forward to where they were about to place him in the waiting van that would take him to Blackgate.

"Mr. Wayne." The white ape smiled.

"Well, we had an agreement, yes? How much do I owe you?"

"What?!" Luthor's voice interrupted them both, the two of them turning to regard him quietly. "You two-timing traitor, you sold us out to _him_? What did he do, did he whore his way into your graces?"

Bruce's eyes widened, the rest of them staring at the fuming man with something like horrified amazement, before the silence was finally broken by Wayne's outright hysterical laughter. It was like a switch had been flipped, one moment they were afraid he would pitch a fit, the next they were laughing about as hard as he was. "Good Lord, thanks, Lex, I haven't laughed that hard in years." He wiped the tears from his eyes, sighing, then turned to the Humanite who was still chuckling quietly. "I'm sorry if my reaction offends you, Humanite. You're just…really not my type at all."

"It's quite alright Mr. Wayne, I find myself in the same situation. Now, if you were to suddenly sprout more hair and…"

"No! Stop, please, I beg you, you'll give me nightmares!" Bruce placed his hands over his ears, the Humanite chuckling.

"Now, since we've gotten that ridiculous notion behind us, I believe we had a deal."

"Why would you make a deal with him?" Luthor spat out.

"Simple, really, he treats me with respect, and even with a gun aimed at his head for two hours he proved to be an amazing conversationalist. He could discuss things most people wouldn't know or understand. That was what prompted me to aim the gun somewhere else. Destroying a mind like yours would be a crime I am quite unwilling to commit."

"'A mind like his?' He's an idiot. An utterly useless idiot that spends his entire time throwing money at the world like he can make it a better place, and spends the rest of his time adding notches to his bedpost."

Bruce turned to look at Luthor, an eyebrow raised and an expression on his face that reminded them of a man scolding his puppy after it were caught making a mess on the floor. "Is that truly the way to talk to the man that funded the research to construct that vest you're wearing, Mr. Luthor? Oh yes, that's a WayneTech device you're wearing. It's the only thing keeping you alive. In other words, you owe me your life. Let's start by actually being polite, shall we?" The smile he was giving him was vicious, white teeth glinting, hazel eyes holding such mischief and amusement it was almost impish.

Luthor's expression was a mixture of shock and horror. Humanite chuckled quietly.

"Another thing, you owe me twice now. I decided not to press charges on you stealing WayneTech equipment."

"Your equipment was useless to us anyway…"

"So…you did steal WayneTech equipment." Gordon's voice broke through everything, his expression cold. Luthor looked as though he was forced to swallow acid.

"We hadn't been sure, but now that we have your confession…" Harvey smirked, the rest of them chuckling.

"As you see, he's not as much of an idiot as you first believed." Humanite smirked, Bruce holding his hands up warily.

"Please, I have an image to retain here, you're ruining it."

"Apologies."

"Naturally, now…you'll understand if I cannot give your payment to you directly…"

"Quite understandable, your reputation would be in shambles."

"Not just that, but with that said, is there some…I don't know…what would you want?"

"Bail would be nice…"

Bruce laughed. "No, apologies, but I can't do that."

"Shame, I do have something in mind, however…" Humanite indicated for him to come closer, and Wayne hesitated before complying, leaning closer as the other whispered in his ear. Superman, using his hearing, blinked, and had to force himself not to laugh at the request.

Wayne did laugh. "Alright, it's a deal; I'll make a grant with that amount to the ones you specified. Would you like it to be in your name?"

"You would do that?" Humanite's expression was priceless, leading to an indulgent smile from the billionaire that held all the right cards and contacts.

"Certainly."

"Then I shall take you up on that. I hadn't been expecting this at all; I assume I owe you twice now."

"I don't quite understand what you owed me for the first time?"

Humanite blinked and smiled. "You know, Mr. Wayne, most people would remember the gun that was leveled at their head for two hours."

"Oh, _that_? You're saying you owe me for that… Huh, I don't see it, but I'll take it."

"You are the strangest human I have ever met."

"Thank you."

He was led into the van then, Wayne hesitating a moment more before flagging the ones that held Solomon Grundy. The behemoth groaned, glaring at him. He looked awful. Bruce held out a large syringe. "Mr. Grundy…"

"Go away, Grundy not feel well…"

"I know, and I'm afraid that's partially my fault. You're reacting to a drug; it's not dangerous aside from making you feel very ill. This will help…"

"Why would short man help Grundy?"

Bruce blinked, tilting his head to the side. "'Short man' believes in helping a lot of people, Mr. Grundy, no matter what position they're in."

Solomon blinked at him, surprised and visibly stumped at his reply.

"Mr. Wayne, if you'll hand that to me, one of my men will do it." Gordon reached his hand out, unwilling to present Bruce as anything other than a billionaire with absurdly good connections. Which he was, Gordon had never imagined just how good those connections were, and how deeply they were engrained.

"No! Grundy want short man to do it!" Solomon shouted out. Wayne tensed, jerking backwards, hazel eyes allowed to flash with fright. The League took a step forward, the Force cocking weapons. Bruce cleared his throat, finally nodding.

"Mr. Wayne, you don't have to do that…"

"No, it's…fine, just…turn your forearm out for me, I need to get at a vein."

He complied, the serum was injected, and he was forcefully backed away, even as they put Grundy in another truck. He was too busy being awed with his lack of pain to actually struggle. They locked them all up calmly and at a signal they immediately went off to Blackgate Prison, leaving Harvey Dent, Jim Gordon, and a certain playboy with the League. Bruce Wayne tossed the vest as far away from himself as he could; dropping into one of the most overly exaggerated swoons they had ever seen. They were quite aware he was doing it on purpose.

Hawkgirl looked at them and then back at Wayne before walking over to him and kneeling, leaning over him cautiously. A moment later and she was pulled into a surprise lip-lock. She jolted, hesitated, and then relaxed, her eyes closing as she responded. A moment later and Bruce dropped back with a grin.

"Why you little sneak!"

"Sorry, couldn't help it."

"You're just lucky that was one of the best kisses I've ever had."

"Well, thank you, you weren't too bad yourself." He grinned and she finally laughed. "Really am sorry though, needed something a bit more…familiar and you were there. I won't do it again, I swear. Not even if you want me to." The grin turned to a smirk.

"That supposed to be the part where you break my heart and dump me?"

"No, that's me knowing that if I do someone else is going to bust me." He rolled his eyes back to look at John, the ex-marine stiffening as he realized what was being implied.

"Absolutely no way, she can kiss who she wants to."

"Ah, you say that now, but later? Oh, you don't know yet, do you? Sad…" He was grinning at him, still hadn't stood up yet, black hair spread on the ground, the look silly and unrepentant. Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon were doing their best not to crack up. He was absolutely insane.

"So…are we going to have to worry about you deciding to take over the world?" Flash asked finally with a smirk.

Wayne gave one of the evilest laughs they thought he could, something between the lines of camp and actual intimidation. "But of course, I shall use my powers of worming my way under evil's skin to amass an army that no one, not even you will be able to defeat!" He groaned then, throwing his hand over his head and whining. "They creep me out. The Humanite? He called me a while ago with this whole, 'Mr. Wayne, how are you, I was wondering, would you like to save your city?' Well, what the hell do you say to that? The last time I saw him he had me at gunpoint, now he… Gah!" He shuddered visibly, they didn't blame him. In some ways he really was a playboy billionaire that wasn't cut out for what was required to truly make a big difference.

"Well…it could have been worse. It did work after all." Harvey smiled, holding his hand out, Bruce taking it and allowing the other to haul him up. Gordon helped support him, the other rather limply hanging, still looking a bit dazed.

"Come on, Mr. Wayne, let's get you home."

"Please do…"

"I'm sure you lot can get back to where you're supposed to be?" Harvey asked, looking at the League with a questioning expression. They smiled at him.

"Of course."

They all left, Bruce helped into the back of Gordon's police car to sprawl in the backseat. Harvey and Jim took the front, speeding off into the night. They waited until they saw the red and blue blur zip away into space with the rest of the team before relaxing. Bruce straightened up, smoothing his outfit as he did so.

"I think that went well."

They couldn't help but crack up. They let him out later, handing him over to Alfred, Batman taking to the rooftops a while after. They each went home, Gordon to his family to tell quiet stories about what had happened to people that were awed and amused that someone that was a husband and a father to them was somehow able to stop the Injustice Guild.

Harvey went home to an empty house.

The next day they woke up to something they couldn't believe. They immediately headed over to the Wayne penthouse. Harvey grinned as he saw Gordon getting out of his own car, and the two of them immediately headed up. They had been expecting to have to wake him up, but not expecting for the only occupant to be Alfred.

"Where is he? Is he alright?" Gordon asked immediately.

"Perfectly fine, sir. His vitals are normal, I believe he is still sleeping, he's in the Bunker." Alfred was offering they realized. They looked at each other, expressions somewhere between absolutely intrigued and slightly fearful. "Rachel was allowed in, sirs. I believe he would do the same for you. I would expect for him to be a bit grumpy though. If I can monitor his vitals it means he hasn't removed the costume and likely fell asleep where he sat." He had a slight smirk on his mouth and they blinked.

"Well…alright."

"Very good sirs. Here's what we'll do."

They arrived at the Bunker later, the two men behind Alfred somewhere between excited and wary. They weren't expecting all the light, or the white. They especially weren't expecting, although Alfred mentioned it was possible, a sleeping Batman. He was sitting in the chair and had fallen asleep leaning back in it. His cowl was off, revealing those black rings around his eyes, his black hair was tussled, and he was snoring quietly. They hesitated, looking at each other, questioning how brave they were before sneaking forward. They paused surrounding him, Alfred's fingers making a brief countdown from four. Before the three of them could jolt at him a quiet: "Don't even think about it," made them jump backwards hurriedly. He opened an eye, cracking it open almost, the black makeup smeared around it sticking. Finally he straightened, stretching slightly before turning around fully.

"So, you let them in the Bunker."

"I did, sir. I hope you don't mind…"

"No, no. Not at all, why should I?" He raised an eyebrow at him, making Alfred snicker. "I know, I know…" He sighed, a finger going up to ring around where the makeup ended.

"Bruce, quick, can you change the channel to GCN?" Harvey asked.

He hesitated, before doing so hurriedly as he registered the urgency in his voice, and turned the volume up.

"It's true; our very own GCPD was the one to take out the 'Injustice Guild.' We did it without Batman's help, without the help of the Justice League…" The woman was saying, her expression was bright, almost joyful. She was joined by her fellow reporter, the two of them slowly winding the tale of what happened wearing bright smiles. Bruce Wayne wasn't mentioned once. He could hear it in their voices as they talked about what a great team Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon were. They had hope.

If the media had hope, the people would have hope.

It was better than he could have expected.


	14. Suffer

Batman stood with Harvey Dent and Commissioner Gordon, the two of them finding they had drawn a complete blank in regards to a recent case. Batman looked through the pictures, crouched on the ornate pedestal that decorated most of Gotham's buildings. The pictures detailed an entire crime scene, a bloody crime scene. A small family was leaning against each other, red liquid oozing from their bodies to surround them, turning the concrete gritty with congealed blood. They were set up against a large fountain, the water it contained stained red, even as it continued to glitter in the just rising sunlight. They looked like a family that had been taking a walk through the park before deciding to sit on the edge of the fountain to take a break like many other small families had done in the past.

And that was where the murders had happened, in the middle of central park, to be found by one of the workers. Batman looked up at them, giving the pictures back to be replaced by a folder from Dent. The descriptions were clear, concise and overly clinical. Four inch cut to the throat with a highly sharpened knife, signs of struggle found on the father, bruises other lacerations. The wife had done her best, they could see where her hands had tightened on her child out of fear, bruise marks left behind as she likely tried to keep him close. They were all killed the same way, and then left posed. The child had even been holding a paper boat, ready to launch it.

"We have nothing. Aside from knowing how it's done…we have nothing. No fingerprints, no hair follicles, nothing. Just a random _freak_ that likes to pose the people he kills. Zsaz escaped and this fits his MO perfectly, but we have no proof. We need to know where he is, but we can't find him, and he's already going on a rampage." Gordon was angry, pushing up his glasses as he glared. His expression was mirrored by Dent, the two of them once again providing a double-act that was almost unparalleled. Harvey stuck his hands in his pockets, the two of them huffing out a sigh.

"Why does Gotham get all the whackos?"

"Because Gotham invites them…" Batman examined the file again and handed it back. He hadn't been able to examine the crime scene himself. It had happened when he'd been on his way home. The sun had been rising. It was too early for Batman, and apparently too early for there to have been witnesses. He narrowed his eyes slowly. "I need to get at an actual crime scene."

"We can't let you do that, you know that. They still think you're a murderer, and there's no way I can remove that warrant as long as they do." Gordon looked up at him closely, brown eyes reflecting nothing more or less than deepest apology.

"I can't rely on secondhand reports, Gordon."

"You're going to have to." Dent spoke softly, but his eyes were focused and hard. "We have to keep you safe as well, and if the police find you there before they can get a crack at it…they'll blame you. You can't afford to have any more people considering you a murderer. Being caught there will only cement it, and what happens when the League hears about that?"

"I'll tell them. I'll let them know why, let them know the situation may be suspicious, but I need to get there."

"You're volunteering information to them? I'm surprised…" Dent's voice was almost sarcastic, until he caught the tensing of the man in front of him. "No, no I'm not. I'm sorry. I know you'll do anything in order to save Gotham, even hand out information to people you don't fully trust. He's…rattling me. I don't like this maniac any more than you do, and I want him gone. I also know that you need to gain evidence to beat him, and these reports can't help you."

Jim and Harvey looked at each other, considering. "Alright, let them know what's happening in Gotham, and we'll get you access. Do you need a copy in order to do so?"

"No." He touched the side of his cowl with a slight smirk. They didn't truly know what he was hinting at exactly, but they could guess that he had a camera hidden away in that cowl.

"Alright. Good luck."

….

Superman had been understandably surprised when he was called to Gotham and asked to find a way to transport Batman to the Watchtower a few nights later. When he asked for a meeting to be called he was even more shocked. He did it. J'onn, Hawkgirl, Stewart, Flash, Wonder Woman, and Superman were gathered around the meeting room, looking at a Batman that they were certain had never actually been in the Watchtower.

"What is it?"

Batman tossed a file onto the table, watching as they blinked and moved out to grab it. When they saw what it contained they reacted exactly like he had expected. Eyes widened, mouths dropped, fingers tightened, and stomachs churned. Over the last few nights more people had been murdered. They had all been posed in similar fashions. A couple with their guts placed into dishes in front of them as they sat in an outdoor café, necks slit. A man leaning against a wall with a newspaper driven into his hands with nails that also had his neck slit, a woman leaning over his shoulder with the same, her hand on his shoulder… They looked from that and back up to him.

"What…who?" Flash stared up at him with shock in his voice.

"Victor Zsaz. Originally thought to be one of Falcone's thugs, when he was taken down he branched into other things. What you're seeing there is only a small portion of a very large and very bloody record."

"If you know who he is, why don't you have him already?" Shayera tapped the file, looking through it.

"We don't know where he is."

"Do you want us to help look?" John asked.

"No."

"Then…why show us?" Diana prodded.

"Because I need to get more involved. The police are unable to find anything. I need to get there before they contaminate the crime scene. This means I need to get close. If I'm caught there…"

"They'll think you're even more of a sick bastard than they originally thought. And you were…unwilling to find yourself cornered from both sides if we thought the same" John filled in quietly, not interested in insulting the man by calling him afraid, and looked up at him with a frown. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." They stared at him, shock racing through their being, even as he reached forward, taking the file and tucking it away.

"Is that the only way it has to be?" Superman asked, standing up, looking at the man across the table from him with shocked blue eyes. White lenses met his gaze, no answer forthcoming. They found that they could see it. It was exactly what he'd do. He'd give himself body and soul to his city. He would die for it. They wondered if that was what he was planning. They honestly didn't see him as one to retire, hang up the cowl when there were still people to save.

He gestured to J'onn, the Martian standing up and following, likely to take him home in the Javelin-7. They needed to give him another way to get up there. The fact gave Superman an idea.

….

Bruce Wayne stumbled off the bike as soon as he made it to the Bunker, Alfred catching him as he fell. His hands came away bloody and he hurriedly took to dragging his young master to where he could get a good look at what was wrong. Batman's cowl was removed after the trap was deactivated, the one that would shock anyone who tried to remove it without permission. His face was pale, his teeth were grit, but his gaze was steady.

"What happened, Master Bruce?"

"I found it, stayed too long, they thought I killed them. Dislocated my shoulder…fell…haven't managed to fix it yet. The blood is from a relatively shallow cut. I don't think I need stitches, but I've been wrong before."

"And you drove to the bunker on a device that would only exasperate the problem."

"Had no choice."

"You never do. Grit your teeth." He braced himself, feeling Alfred position his arm carefully, and pop it back into place. Bruce grit his teeth violently, finally relaxing, rolling it carefully.

"Thank you."

"Please tell me it was worth it, Master Bruce?"

"I got him, I know where he is." The smile on Batman's face was incongruous with everything people knew, but it was enough to make Alfred smile as well.

"…Well, I'll call that worth it. Where is he?"

"Let me compile the evidence together. I need to give it to Gordon and Dent when they arrive."

"You're certain they will come here, sir?"

"They saw me fall. I think Jim shot at me right before I did; I believe that would be enough to drive them to come here."

"Ah, well…I'll see about getting something to drink, shall I? It's going to be a long day."

Bruce stripped from his costume calmly, bandaging the wound that, while shallow, had still managed to bleed a lot, hurriedly pulling pants and the other essentials on before setting to work, leaving the costume in a pile. He'd clean it up later. He was unsurprised when the elevator for the Bunker lowered. He turned around with a smile, watching as the two men on it caught his eye and immediately set to jumping down before it had fully set. They looked somewhere between panicked and genuinely relieved.

"What happened, are you alright?" Gordon asked briskly, the both of them looking him over for any injuries, any signs of bleeding.

"Relax, please, you didn't shoot me, I promise. My line snapped at a very inopportune time. I'm fine, I swear, the only injury was a dislocated shoulder and a very bruised left side, as well as a cut that didn't even need stitches. Other than that…I'm good." They still stared at him closely so he finally sighed and pulled his shirt off. "See? No bullet holes. I'm good."

"Holy crap, you call that _good_?"

The entire left side of his chest had basically been turned into one giant bruise, and Bruce shrugged quietly. "Better than a bullet."

"I thought that thing basically amounted to body armor." Harvey looked at the pile of removed plates.

"It does."

"Then…" Gordon prompted.

"We had to change the specs. What you're looking at is basically a second prototype. I had to choose between improved flexibility and weight management or protection. Unfortunately, a lack of flexibility and the weight I was lugging around basically meant I was a sitting duck anyway." He shrugged and pulled his shirt back on, hiding the bruises and the scarring. "Now, do you want to know where Zsaz is or not?"

They took it, but they didn't like it.

….

The rain was coming down hard in Gotham city, but for once it wasn't as bad there as it was in other places. "Did you hear about that hurricane that hit Metropolis recently?" Harvey asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, could have been a lot worse." Gordon sighed lightly, leaning backwards against the small ledge the roof of the building called a railing.

"Wonder Woman's gone." Batman's voice cut through the silence, making the two of them turn to regard him.

"What do you mean?

"I mean she's gone back to the Amazonian island of Themyscira. She might not come back." He huffed slightly. "Although I doubt it. I don't think she'd be the type to run away completely. The trick will be to convince her mother."

"I take it the Queen of the Amazons did not want the men to be saved?" Harvey asked with a smirk.

"She ran away the first time, and they did not part on good terms the second."

"Oh, well, that is going to be a tricky one. She's going back to try and make amends?" Gordon looked at him curiously, finally leading to a one-armed shrug.

"Don't know, don't care. The only difference this makes is…" He froze then, looking towards a spot in the distance, black eyes widening before his lenses flicked into place. "Take three steps back, don't look threatening."

"What, why?"

"Do it!" They complied hurriedly, a moment later they saw why as Wonder Woman hovered near them. Her expression turned to one of shock before sliding into something threatening. Batman immediately stepped in front of them.

"I work with them." She blinked, realization flashing on her face, before she smiled genuinely, landing in front of them. Harvey and Jim stared at her, blinking owlishly at the gorgeous woman in front of them, and noticed something as soon as Batman asked, "What's wrong, Princess?" Her eyes were bloodshot, and her mouth was tight.

"I…I don't know who else to ask for help, I understand that you don't want us in Gotham, but I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"Can you gather background information on Faust for me, Felix Faust? He's some sort of sorcerer." The word 'sorcerer' made Gordon and Dent jolt, one of them opening their mouth to comment before closing it harshly as Batman replied.

"I can. Why?" Their looks turned to downright bafflement, the realization that he was taking it seriously leading to raised eyebrows and questioning expressions. They were both ignored.

She hesitated, looking down at the building she was standing on before looking him directly in the eye. "Do you recall what you said to us at our last meeting?"

The warning bells in his mind that had been starting to ring before turned into a full-fledged cacophony. "What are you doing?"

"Saving my family." She glared at him defiantly, immediately hovering off the roof.

"Diana, wait, you don't…"

"Why should you be the only one that can give yourself up for something you believe in?" With that she was gone, Batman staring after her in something like horror.

"I think you just got told." Harvey smirked quietly and then looked at Batman.

"Sorcerer?"

"You'd be surprised." They hesitated, looked at each other, looked back at the flying woman who had been reputed to tear apart tanks, and just shook their heads in weary acceptance.

"What's she doing?" Gordon asked.

"Heading towards Metropolis…"

"What did she mean, what did you say?" Harvey's expression had turned worried his mouth tightening.

"I have no time. I have to find Faust. I said I would."

With that he jumped off the building, snapping his wings out as he went.

"…I hate it when I'm missing something."

Batman had searched his computer databanks thoroughly; searching for the name, until he had finally came across it. He knew where he had to go to get more information. He hated threatening civilians, but lately there was no choice. The man he was watching was a university professor, running towards the campus library with books in hand, his umbrella folding outwards with the wind. The professor raced up the stone steps, between the two carved lions on either side. "Professor Eurlich." Batman's voice rang out before he dropped towards him. The gray haired man shook his head, water streaming down him, his focus on the warmth and light still out of his reach within the building.

"No conferences without an appointment, see my secretary and-" He saw the shadow, the bat-shaped shadow coming towards him and let out a scream. His books fell to the stone steps as he backed away from the advancing terror, staring at the one before him as he straightened up slowly, all black shadows and fear. White lenses stared into his eyes, the man keeping his distance.

Batman could see his reflection in those glasses as lightning flashed behind him, even as he gave a single demand. "Tell me about Faust."

"Faust? Why…why Faust? Why are you here? Have you come to kill me?" His last sentence was whispered, horrified, Batman taking a step forward.

"No. I just came for information. If you don't tell me…"

"You'll never get me to talk about him; I won't be a part of any attempts to hurt him." Eurlich shook his head in terror, but still managed to hold himself strong.

"If you don't, then he may hurt other people."

"What…what are you saying?" There was something in his expression, something that spoke of a sliver of suspicion that had been there all along suddenly awakening. The suspicion was dangerous, but he needed it.

"Faust is not who he appears to be. He has threatened to hurt others. I need information so I can stop him."

"…That's that's always what you've been doing, isn't it? You _help_ others…"

"I need to stop him before he does something that could destroy everyone."

"What do you mean?"

"Information, Professor. You have it. I want it."

The professor considered the figure before him, hesitating, and finally nodded his head. "Alright…I'll tell you what I can, truth be told…I'm not all that surprised he would."

When he finally learned what he needed he left, leaving a man behind that was certainly not going to look at him the same way ever again. He didn't know how he felt about that, but he did know how he felt about the room in front of him. He immediately set to work, categorizing everything.

When he had first started in his mission, the occult held as little interest to him as possible, but as he considered how men could fly, and aliens existed… He had decided to change his policy drastically. He understood it, but he would never use it. When he decided it was enough information, he set to contacting the one who had asked him for information.

"Diana, I've dug up something about your friend, Faust."

"_What is it?" _Her voice replied, and he answered quietly.

"I think you'd better see for yourself." Then he disconnected and set to studying more of his surroundings, activating a homing beacon that would let her know where to go.

Whatever was in the house had a place. Artifacts were mounted, shelves full of the strange and the weird. The apartment was small and made much smaller when more people entered the room. He most definitely had not been expecting the rest of the League except for John to join him. They all smiled at him when they saw him, or gave him a glance that one could easily interpret as a smile. He didn't like it. He especially didn't like the way Superman grinned at him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Glad to see you're alive. I was worried. They really stepped up the manhunt for a while there, didn't they?"

"I can outrun you." It was such a simple statement, but it made Superman grin apologetically.

"What is this place?"

"Faust clearly has a great passion for learning," J'onn observed quietly, looking at all the books stuffed into overflowing shelves.

"Where did he get this stuff?" Flash asked, grasping a small scepter with a clear crystal attached to the top of it, a gem with the image of a closed eye. What he didn't notice was when the eye opened, Batman immediately turning to regard what he was doing and his own eyes widening.

"Don't touch that!" He snapped, only to see the sudden flash of light, and immediately, reflexively, drop to the ground, cape spanning out around him. Flash's expression was a mixture of horror and apology at the sight of the large char mark on the wall behind the figure standing there, Batman's was just furious.

"Oops!" The exclamation was weak, worried, and he flinched back from Batman as he approached.

"Don't touch anything; we don't know what kind of powers we're dealing with!" He snatched it away from him, replacing it. He glared as he watched the rest of the League put whatever they had been holding down. These people were so unprofessional it was ridiculous.

"So who is Faust?" Superman finally asked, Batman immediately removed the picture he had gained from the Professor, placing it down on the desk where they could see it.

"Felix Faust was a respected Professor of Archeology, but when he became fascinated by the mystic arts, he was kicked out of the University for his heretical ideas." He paced calmly, looking over the objects in the room once again, getting a feel for it as he continued. "He swore revenge on those that mocked him, and several people later disappeared under mysterious circumstances."

Wonder Woman's attention was drawn to the same three faces his attention had been captivated by the instant he had entered. Mounted to the wall they appeared to be in horrible pain, their expressions too perfect, too lifelike for him to ignore. She had apparently come to the same conclusion he had.

"I have a pretty good idea what happened to them." Flash, Superman, and J'onn gathered around her, Flash visibly flinching away from the sight with an exclamation of disgust.

"He's obviously mad…"

"It gets worse." The way they turned to him with something like shock on their faces almost made him smirk. "I found his journal." He held it out, the brown leather-bound book something they focused on immediately. "The last entries make reference to Tartarus." The lightning that flashed outside the window could not have been better timed, throwing the man into sharp relief, white lenses turning blue for an instant with reflected light. Diana's expression turning horrified as she filled in what he was referring to.

"The Pit of Lost Souls."

"Isn't that just a myth?" Superman asked immediately, watching her with his eyes as she began to walk away from them, shocked above anything else.

"If only it were…long ago, in ancient times. My mother fell in love with a god, Hades…" She continued quietly, the team hanging onto her every word as she described how Hades had turned traitor. He had sworn to deliver Mount Olympus to the Titans in order to be given dominion over all humanity. He had then tricked Diana's mother into opening the gates of Olympus. The battle that happened had been sung about for centuries, the gods eventually coming out victorious. Hades was punished, sent to the pit of Tartarus, and her mother was charged with guarding the gates to the Pit. "To make sure the gate could never be unlocked, the only key was broken into pieces and scattered across the globe. She kept one piece in the throne room as a daily reminder of her eternal shame," Diana finished quietly.

"Then these relics we've been gathering are parts of the key?" J'onn asked, walking forward.

"But why would Faust want it?" Flash asked, taking it from Superman. Batman immediately stepped in, taking the part from the speedster and walking to the desk that held the other pieces.

"Only one reason." They watched him, feeling the hair on the back of their necks prickle, if they had hair, eyes widening as he finally turned around, holding the key out before him. "He intends to use it." The key was large and unwieldy, two handles sticking out from the large base that would provide the owner a way to turn it.

"Where is this gateway to the underworld?" Superman asked.

"Under Themyscira."

"Diana, you can't give Faust the key…"

"If I do not, my mother and sisters will remain petrified forever."

"And if you do, it could mean the end of the World." Batman's words held enough gravity to make them seem solid, dropping in their midst and hanging over their heads.

"What are you going to do?" J'onn asked.

Diana looked at him, and finally detailed her plan.  
>…..<p>

Themyscira was a burned-out mess. The petrified remains of Diana's sisters were left scattered, each of them in a pose of battle, each of them with fierce expressions on their faces. None of them had been ready for the power Faust possessed. Flash looked around quietly, expression hesitant. "You know, when I got here, this was definitely not what I expected."

"Quiet." Batman's voice cracked out calmly, overriding any other comments that might have been made, crouching to the ground and moving to his position as recon. He vanished among the pillars and smoke before he reached the temple, a black shadow that vanished into nothing. A moment later and his voice crackled over the speakers quietly. "He's still in there."

"What's he doing?"

"He's crouching, looking towards something on the ground near the steps. Talking to it. Your mother. Go, now. I'll set up."

Diana immediately did so, flying into the Temple with the covered key held in her hands. "Faust!" The magician turned with a smile.

"Back already, and with hours to spare…" He summoned an hourglass over his shoulder, examining it before snapping it out of being. "I'm impressed. Have you got the relics?" He asked eagerly, taking a step forward.

Diana unveiled it, the key revealed to him. He smiled, taking a step forward. "First, free my mother."

"Oh yes, yes of course…" He turned, holding up a stone with the symbol of the Gorgon on it, speaking the words to release the spell calmly. Batman watched as Hippolyta was freed from her curse, turning slowly back into flesh and blood. She let out a groan as she was finally able to move, looking up at the man and her daughter standing there.

"After three thousand years, the key is finally complete…" His voice was almost caressing, his smile was wide, as he held the key to what would be his victory.

"Diana…you didn't…" Hippolyta whispered as her daughter fell to her knees beside her, holding her mother close.

"Thank you for your assistance, but now that your usefulness has ended…" The Gorgon amulet was called up, his spell to petrify starting to leave his lips; only to be interrupted as Flash zipped through, taking it from him. The loud exclamation of surprise was echoed by Hippolyta's expression.

"You're not the only one with an ace up your sleeve, pal."

Batman took his cue, memory cloth wings spread as he dove directly towards him, punching him down to the ground to land on his feet in front of him. Faust was a weedy man in a navy blue robe that would limit any mobility he might normally have had. An archeologist who had not bothered to perfect his physique, in a fair fight…he would be easily dispatched. This would not be a fair fight. He didn't miss the question Hippolyta poised to her daughter, something he knew she would eventually ask.

"You brought _men_ here? To Themyscira?" Her voice held nothing but shock in it, shock and something like revulsion. Batman was unwilling to let the conversation continue.

"Did you really think that she'd trust something like you?" His voice cut out, vicious, interrupting.

"It's over Faust, come along quietly." J'onn and Superman dropped down on either side of him, and Faust stared between them in shock. He would not have missed the fact that Gotham's hero had supposedly turned evil. It would be something he would not be allowed to tell others. Even so, Batman was expecting his answer.

"Never!" Purple light formed in an outstretched hand, blasting out a second later, making the heroes scatter. Batman was unwilling to see if his armor could hold against Faust's magic, and immediately got out of the line of fire. Superman was hit, sending him falling to the ground. Flash zipped past immediately, drawing the man's attention. "Now you see me…" He taunted, immediately zooming away a second later, "now you don't!" Faust glared, blasting away at the speedster who avoided his attacks hurriedly. Yet he didn't avoid the block that Faust put at his feet, tripping over the wall of rock that ended at around his knees.

Flash stumbled, his momentum sending him across the Temple to crash into a pillar. As Faust's hand lowered to deliver the final blow, J'onn took that moment to ram into him, sending him tumbling. He phased through the blast Faust sent his way. Batman watched as the power he was amassing turned close to what he would consider critical and was sent towards them. He dove, just as the floor he had been standing on exploded. He bit back the cry of pain that rose to his lips; his shoulder and chest were still recovering and that blast had jerked him. The explosion had hurt, but it would have hurt much less than the pillar that Superman caught before it fell on him.

Faust grasped the key and turned to run, Batman finally pulling out the batclaw, a device Lucius had discussed with him in detail, and fired. The line shot out and wrapped around the sorcerer's torso, stopping him in his tracks. Wonder Woman joined him, her lasso adding to his in binding him tight. They immediately set to reeling him forward step by step, before Faust gripped both their lines and lines of purple energy lanced along it. It was like being electrocuted, purple fire ripping through his veins and seizing his muscles, even as he fell back.

The others had never seen him fall from something before, and immediately took that as a sign. Faust ran towards the door, hoping to escape, only for the Martian to phase through the floor in front of him, his hands up as he called for a halt, Flash and Superman coming up behind him and trapping him. Or they would have trapped him, had it not been for the three stones he threw forward, shouting a word as he did so. They landed, and immediately exploded outwards, vines covered with spines rose from them, wrapping around the two heroes and trapping them.

J'onn found himself in a similar predicament, Diana immediately recovering enough to launch herself forward, sword grasped in hand. She came in swinging, still unable to truly keep them back. Batman slowly shoved himself upright, the echo of that pain still singing through him, even as he moved forward, watching as the Queen was grasped, and the sorcerer spoke again. They were gone in an explosion of smoke, and they had the key.

This was getting ridiculous.

He followed Diana as she led them to a side passage; lead down below the Temple, down into darkness, the only light coming from Diana's torch. What eventually was revealed to them was incredible. It looked like another city, a crumbling, rotten city that Themyscira had been built on top of with the entrance to Tartarus as its core. There was a smell in the air that made the hair on the back of his neck prickle. He couldn't recognize it off the top of his head, but it was still enough to make him tense.

Batman shot his grapple at one of the only solid outcroppings of rock, letting it jerk him into the air, his 'wings' spreading out as the line sent him higher, left behind him stuck to the rock. He was effectively flying and the rest of them joined him quickly. By the time they got there it was too late, the gate had been opened, Hippolyta chained to the remains of a pillar and allowed to watch as Hades entered. They formed up, hiding in the remains, watching as Hippolyta was taunted, Hades revealed to be a strikingly handsome man underneath a fearsome helmet. He was tall, horrendously so, dwarfing even Superman. Felix asked for what he had been promised: the possession of all knowledge. It was given to him. The knowledge was of the only thing man would ever learn, pain and suffering, the man aging before their very eyes, finally falling to the ground in agony.

Batman listened to Superman's exclamation of horror, his own eyes narrowed, watching as Diana grasped a sword to her left and charged; Hippolyta was freed from her chains and her daughter dragged her away. He heard Hades' statement, the quiet realization that she had a daughter, the possessiveness to his voice making his skin crawl. Then Hades opened his mouth again and fire poured out. The sound that came with it was like thousands of nails running across an equal number of chalkboards and the stone was engulfed in flames, the heat rising from it a shock against the frigid coldness the underworld possessed. Diana and her mother crouched behind a broken pillar, the two of them trapped as Hades taunted them. Superman flew in then, punching him directly, sending him stumbling backwards.

Superman was immediately sent away with a single slap to the face, slamming him into a pillar which broke and crumbled on top of him. In a moment of impulse Batman was certain he was going to regret, he threw a batarang towards him. The god caught the batarang, the explosion that engulfed him a moment later barely seeming to do more than make him smile as he stalked forward. Another batarang followed, only to be swatted away, exploding harmlessly behind him. Flash began pummeling him, zipping around him in a circle, fists flying, only to be forced to flee as fire was sent after him. The quip he shouted out was ignored in favor of Batman trying to think of something that could potentially save them. Fighting gods had never been on the list of things he wanted to do before he died, especially since he was certain that this one could squash him like a bug. Unfortunately for Hades, he was around things that could squash him like bugs on a regular basis. This was just another challenge and Batman excelled under pressure.

J'onn put a stop to the gods constant fire breathing, smashing him through the ground, only to be sent back a moment later by another stream of fire. When Hades forced himself out of the crater he had been sent into, it was to offer a challenge, the ground rising beneath his feet as the ground around them split. Corpses of the fallen rose from their graves, flesh dripping as they took slow step after step forward, eyes flaming as they reached out. He felt clawed hands grasp his cape, pulling him to the ground as others came forward. There were hundreds of them. The smell that had been so difficult to place before was made worse, the sickly-sweet smell of rotting flesh.

Batman shot another grapple to the ceiling, allowing it to drag him away from the clutching hands that sought to pull him into the dirt. He felt the line break, an axe thrown through it, and sending him to the ground, only for him to land on a pillar and continue his decent to the ground a fair distance away from the horde. They started to converge once again, and he sent another batarang into the throng, blowing up a handful. He was eventually forced to use a sword, taking a moment to thank Ra's Al Ghul for teaching him how to handle the weapon with deadly force. You can't kill what's already dead, yet even so he aimed more to disable when possible, slicing hamstrings and other important ligaments.

As he noticed how desperately the others were beginning to fight he began to get more creative. He still had the original explosive devices he had used before, ones that possessed a bigger charge than his batarangs and were used mostly for destroying objects. He managed to duck and weave through the swarm of unending dead, finding a downed pillar and clapping several of the devices to it. There was a time limit of forty seconds. Enough time to find cover as well as get his 'team' out of the way. He fought his way to where he could keep out of the way, passed the message to J'onn who passed it to others, shouted out a warning for those that wouldn't have gotten it, dove behind another pillar, and the bombs exploded.

Thousands of pieces of shrapnel exploded in a bright cacophony of noise and death, blowing out and tearing through flesh, severing tendons and ligaments, sending them to the ground where they howled weakly. The others watched from where they had hidden or where they hovered, J'onn phasing through it, whereas Superman merely stood there. Superman took the time to directly attack Hades once again, who had covered his face with his arm, leaning back from the deadly splinters. The shards finally stopped flying, the dead moving weakly. Superman was swatted away once again, and Hades focused on Batman. Black eyes bored into his own, expression dark as he moved forward threateningly. The only thing that saved him from a direct confrontation was when the rest of his team attacked again.

Hades sent another fireball their way, the heat coming from it somehow greater than before, and Batman instantly knew that the only thing he could do was run. The fire did not act like the others had, forming into an explosion that acted much as the pillar had before it, finally catching them in the shockwave, sending him forward to tumble to a halt, lying there completely stunned. He heard his teammates meet similar fates, watched as Diana and her mother still fought valiantly against the terror standing there. He felt burnt and broken, the injured shoulder screaming it's agony as he attempted to shove himself upright. It was then that he saw Faust struggle to his feet, turn to Hades, and deliver a final spell. With it, Hades was engulfed in light, and his true form was finally shown. A rat-like face with red, angry eyes, elongated teeth, and a tongue that hung out of his mouth, horns gracing his forehead faced them. _That_ was definitely going to appear in his nightmares to come. He turned, and delivered his retribution, Faust sent flying back from the fire that was sent to him.

Diana and Hippolyta charged, the Princess sent aside, while the Queen was grasped by the god, dangling from his hand as he taunted her further. Hippolyta responded with a fist that was grasped, only for Wonder Woman's lasso to wrap around the gods arm, and yank it from her mother. She was tossed across the room in turn, crashing into the wall. Batman was barely aware of Hippolyta shouting that their only hope was to destroy the key, and then he must have temporarily blacked out.

When he came to, Diana was screaming, the key sending arcs of electricity flying up into the air before the key was finally broken and sent to the ground, shattering. Hades ran forward, only for the portal, which had been lying dormant behind him in the open doorway, to turn into a vortex. Everything was sucked inside of it, its quest to return Hades to the pit, indiscriminate of the others that it might bring in as well. The remaining dead scrabbled away only to be sucked in. Faust turned to dust. Diana was forced to cling to the pedestal the key had been in to keep away from that portal, having been the closest. He shot his own grapple that wrapped around a wedged pillar, hanging limply in the air as it fought to bring him into the Pit. His thoughts remained focused on what was happening behind him, watching as Hippolyta was finally sent towards the Pit behind them, completely out cold. Hades grabbed her and attempted to claw the two of them out of danger, but a pillar was sent into them, sending Hades to the Pit, Diana's cry of, "Mother!" echoing. She let go, managing to catch her mother, Hades using Hippolyta, who he still had a hold of, to climb up towards her. Diana finally managing to kick him back into Tartarus.

Diana clawed her way through the doors that were slowly shutting, Batman watching as they finally shut just behind her. Just like that, all was calm. He landed on his feet, retracting the grapple a moment later, watching as the doors to Tartarus sealed.

Batman watched from a distance as Hippolyta finally came to, the two women holding a quiet conversation that ended in a moment of absolute pain. They exited the ruins and left the temple, standing there in the pre-dawn light, looking over the destruction Faust had caused. "Is there nothing we can do for them?" J'onn finally asked, watching, and likely _feeling_ as the Queen's pain grew at the sight before her, her head in her hand. Diana stood next to her, attempting to offer comfort, even as Flash held up the Gorgon amulet.

"I still have this snake-headed doohickey…"

"But only Faust knew the spells…"

As he spoke the sun rose, and the amulet flashed with light, Flash dropping it in surprise. The light grew, soon becoming too bright to stand, and they all looked away. When it finally faded, so did the enchantment.

"But how?" Flash asked in shock as he watched the petrified women begin to breathe, life called back into them.

"Faust's enchantment could only last as long as he willed it." His answer was immediate, and they took it.

"So now that he's gone, the spell is broken. It's a miracle."

"Athena be praised." Hippolyta spoke then, hugging her daughter tightly, backing away, the Amazons on the ground clutching at their heads. The fact that they could move at all was something to be praised as well. Batman said nothing, but kept an eye on Flash, who was staring around at all the beautiful women surrounding him like a kid at Christmas. He didn't like it.

He especially didn't like the ceremony held on courtyard overlooking the beach to commemorate what they did for Themyscira. It was sunny and his costume was not meant for a beach environment. It was positively sweltering, add that to the fact that he needed to get to the Bunker after this in the daylight, and he was one very unhappy individual. The ceremony was short, the words poignant, accepting the wreath they gave him, and as usual ignoring anything Flash was saying, but he saw what was coming before Hippolyta even opened her mouth to address her daughter. She had broken their laws. Punishment was necessary as the Queen, even to her own daughter, but he had to admit he found the inevitable unfair. It always was.

Exile.

Diana was now exiled from Themyscira. There were protests, token ones from Superman, that might have been genuine, but Batman didn't care to examine it closely. Flash was outraged, actively challenging her. Diana was acceptant, and left with a warrior's tribute. It was only when Flash continued to challenge and ridicule that Batman stepped forward, grasping his arm tightly and dragging him close enough to whisper, "Don't make this any harder than it already is." Flash hesitated, and then followed after. Batman gave them one last bow, which was returned with an inclination of a head, and then left.

Diana paused on the platform of the Javelin-7, leaning against the hydraulic platform, staring off into the distance. J'onn's hand rested on her shoulder, her name leaving his lips in question. "Let's go…" They left then, Batman huddled in the back, yet even so he wasn't spared from the questions.

Flash started, indicating his utility belt and holding up his fingers. "So, you have a grapple gun, batarangs, explosive batarangs, and actual mini bombs, what else do you have on there?" He originally snarled and almost told him to mind his own business, but he noticed Diana was looking at him in interest as well.

He eventually leaned back slightly and hissed his quiet displeasure before shaking his head. "I can't."

"Why?"

"Strict orders. He's not my boss, but he does have a few rules."

They blinked and finally smiled, as expected they immediately took the bait. "So you do work for him."

"_With_ him. He has a role to play, as do I."

"He does?"

"What's he do?"

"Are you vulnerable to magic?"

The questions that came were answered brusquely and to the point, the last one causing great amounts of amusement, but played with just the same. It was a perfect opportunity to once again disguise his humanity. They didn't mind his harsh delivery, giving him smiles and respect in return, he was eventually taken to the outskirts of Gotham, Superman heading out towards his own home, making certain it looked like only one of them had left.

Alfred was waiting for him, Bruce performing one of the most cramped changing operations he had ever done, hurriedly removing the makeup smeared around his eyes just in time to stuff everything into the trunk and settle back again as they entered Gotham.

Gordon and Harvey were waiting in the Bunker again, watching him intently when he entered, looking for sign of injury, or hurt. When they found none, it was apparently all the invitation they needed to immediately swing a chair in front of them, and point him into it. Bruce accepted a cup of tea from his butler and outright ignored all three of them, Alfred joining the two of them in their anticipated staring, until he sat down, took a sip and finally began.

"Last night we defeated a god."


	15. And

_And here it is, ladies and gents, finally, a brand new chapter for your viewing pleasure_. _Sorry it took so long..._

...

Bruce Wayne stood on the small hill, overlooking the tombstones on the ground, leaning against the rough mahogany bark of the bare tree that rose over the graveyard. He held three roses wrapped inside clear plastic. He hadn't made a move to approach the graves he was staring at, the reason the black-clad man kneeling in front of one grave in particular, blond hair glinting in the afternoon sunlight, the clouds that had recently obscured the sun drifting away. Bruce knew how he would feel if someone interrupted him and found himself avoiding even looking towards that quiet man, who likely hadn't been able to go near the grave yet. Instead he stared out over the graveyard, his attention focused on the sunset, staining the white markers red.

There was so much death, and pain, and likely broken families, but he only visited three, three private graves in the Wayne family cemetery, luckily untouched by the fire. The manor itself was rising up from the ashes. Still unfinished, the skeleton of the house visible through the upper floors, but it was getting there. It wouldn't be too long until he could live in it. He had considered visiting the others, the ones he had been unable to save, but considered it too risky. When they weren't even buried with the rest of them, how could he justify it?

He was already doing so much to put himself and others in danger, telling Gordon, and Dent himself was something that had made things much more complicated. They both had jobs that were currently hinged on their ability to capture Batman. He did not like being the one to possibly end their ability to do their jobs. Each of them swore they would never give him up, but there were times when he almost wished to just turn himself in. It was getting so difficult to balance; his loyalties were constantly stretched and toyed with. He hated it.

A moment later and he looked back towards to the graves and huffed out a brief sigh before trudging over, the wet grass making the hems of his pants damp. Bruce stood next to Harvey quietly before carefully positioning each rose on the markers, adding his own white rose to Harvey's red on the last gravestone. Dent took a breath, huffing it out a moment later and Bruce helped him to his feet, the DA brushing his pants almost futilely against the damp.

"I'm sorry, Harvey. I know she was going to marry you, but you were…otherwise occupied when we had to choose where to bury her. I offered and her parents accepted."

"It's fine. I honestly don't think I could have chosen a better spot. She was as much your family as she was going to be mine."

Bruce nodded shortly, staring at the grave. "I know about your parents." The topic was abrupt but important, something that needed to be addressed. An explanation that needed to be made.

"…What?" Harvey asked finally, looking at him with wide eyes, something like fear flickering in their depths.

"I did a background check. You were going to marry Rachel. I…I'm sorry I pried, you can probably guess that the method wasn't exactly legal, but you are a politician, a politician in _Gotham_ of all places. That's even worse than the usual." Bruce rubbed a hand through his hair, splaying it out in odd directions. "I can't imagine what that must have been like. Going home to…"

"Bruce, please, do we have to talk about this?" Harvey's eyes were haunted, something in their depths begging him to leave it. Bruce merely looked at him, eyes focused.

"I want you to understand that I know why you lost it. I understand your need for revenge, that drive you had to break them before they broke you anymore than they already had, but Harvey, you must never do it again. I don't believe you will. I think you've found the strength necessary to not fall down the same path you did before, to avoid the destruction of everything we've worked for. But you must never do it again." His voice was harsh, hazel turning black as he stared up into Harvey's blue eyes, his expression set in stone.

"Bruce…I…I don't think that I could."

"Don't _think_, Harvey. You need to make certain of it." There was no plea in his voice, the certainty and insistence in it laced with steel. The taller man found himself looking at the shorter and younger man in front of him in something like realization. He had never found himself actively connecting Bruce Wayne and Batman as the same person, even though he had seen him in partial costume, and seen the injuries that decorated him. There was something in each of them that was wholly and completely independent of the other. Now? Now it didn't seem so far-fetched.

"I won't, I promise." His voice was firm, his blue eyes locked on the ones in front of him, knowing anything else was unacceptable.

"I'll hold you to it. And so will Rachel." He nodded at the grave in front of them, Dent's eyes drifting to it on their own violation, and a knot grew in his stomach. Bruce sighed then, his hands sliding into his pockets, his head bowed slightly. "How have you been holding up, anyway?"

"I've been…I've been good. Work keeps me busy but it pays well, the grafts have held up amazingly. Sometimes I can't believe that it was ever gone...I also can't believe I have hair." He smoothed his hand through the short blond locks with a smirk. "I didn't think that was possible."

"You don't want the details. Gordon had a migraine after I tried to explain to him what precisely we had done. Technically speaking there's several procedures to replace hair, but…"

"Bruce, I thought you said it would go right over my head?" Harvey gave him a slight smile, raising an eyebrow at him.

Wayne laughed. "True enough. Look, Harvey. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, on the whole I'd say I've been okay. The only time I have a problem is when I'm…well, when I'm alone. When I have time to think. I honestly never thought sitting in an empty house would be so difficult." He frowned, looking over to the grave that remained in the back of their minds.

Bruce looked to the ground. "It always was the emptiness that got to me the most." He glanced over to the graves then, swallowing a lump in his throat. "The only thing about this situation I can take is the lack of questions."

"Yeah. It's nice not to feel like asking if it will get better." Harvey stared at the graves, his mouth in a thin line.

A moment of silence passed between them, staring at the graves before them as they simply shared a quiet moment of reflection. Bruce stared at the headstones of his parents, contemplating something quietly, churning the thought over in his head. He longed for a moment alone with the three headstones; a moment to speak quietly and candidly, but there was still the problem of Harvey Dent. "You want out of the house, Harvey? Something to keep your mind off things?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"…Honestly? No idea. Let me talk to Gordon; see about what the three of us can think of. Hell, I'll even submit to golfing." He shuddered, and Harvey laughed, the sound cutting short as the realization of how jarring it sounded in this silence swept through him. Bruce gave him a small smile anyway, shrugging. "Shocking, I know, but it's what you do for family."

Harvey blinked, turning to regard the man standing beside him, hazel eyes meeting his with a determination in them that made him smile. "You know, I never had a younger brother."

"That's alright; I've never had an older one either. Makes us even." The laughter was shared that time, a quiet promise. "Things will get better Harv, in some ways they already have."

"Alright. I guess I'll leave you now."

"See ya, Harvey, take care of yourself."

"You do the same, alright?" Harvey walked away then, out of the graveyard, a dark and silent shadow trudging the length of green to his car.

Bruce took a breath and then turned back to the graves. A moment later and he sat down on the wet grass in front of them, his arms wrapping around his knees as he drew them up to his chest. "Hey, Mother, Father…Rachel." He swallowed, taking a breath before continuing quietly, "it's been a while."

…

The elder Barbara had about strangled him when he had knocked on the door and requested entrance in her overeager attempt to hug him. He had laughed it off when she apologized, grinning at the two kids who walked up to him in something like shock. "And you must be Jimmy and Barbs, man it's been a while…"

"Mom, what is Bruce Wayne doing in our house?" The younger girl's question made him laugh, even as her mother went to answer it.

"Well, believe it or not, Bruce used to spend a lot of time here when he was younger. He…stopped before you were born, sweetie."

"Why?"

Bruce looked to her mother, hazel eyes filled with apology as he crouched down to her level. "Well, when I was fourteen I went to college in Princeton."

Her green eyes went wide, "But I thought they said you were stupid?" Bruce laughed harder than he had in a while, noticing Jimmy's eyes on him in equal curiosity, Jim Gordon coming down the stairs as the noise reached him.

"Can you guys keep a secret?" He asked quietly, Babs immediately nodded furiously, green eyes still focused on his own while Jimmy took a step closer despite himself. "I'm not as dumb as I act. I have so many degrees it's not funny, I only act stupid so people will underestimate me. It's a wonderful business tactic."

"Oh…isn't that cheating?"

"Yes it probably is." Bruce laughed. "But I'm going to tell you another little secret, sometimes in life you have to cheat to survive. Just not on class papers and such. That's just not right."

"Nice save." Jim smiled at him, clapping him on the shoulder as he drew level, the younger man grinning up at him before straightening fully. "What brings you to our neck of the woods?"

"Honestly? Don't really know. I was sort of just going for a drive and I found myself outside your door…and yes, this does mean there's a Lamborghini Murciélago parked in front of your house. I'm debating if this is a good idea or not…" He hesitated, leaning over to the window in the doorway, peering out at the street. A moment later and he whipped his keys out, pressing the lock button twice, the loud sound of it locking and the horn causing almost immediate screams of panic from the onlookers outside. A rather twisted grin slid across his face before he cleared his throat.

"Maybe you should do something about that?" Jim asked with a grin.

"Yeah, I probably should. I do need to talk to you however…" Bruce hesitated, pursed his lips slightly and noticed the way Jimmy was staring at the car out the window. A smile pulled at his mouth and he looked to Barbara. "How's your driving record?"

"What?"

"No accidents, speeding tickets or anything? No, of course not, you're the Commissioner's wife, right? How'd you like to take it for a spin?"

"But…" Barbara's eyes went wide, shock obvious in her expression, even as her two children lit up like Christmas trees.

"No, no buts, I need to talk to your husband, my car is being circled by vultures, and we can very easily set up a dinner or something later. Please? Your kids are dying for a ride in it, too…" He wheedled the last with a pout, the look so atypical and yet so charming Barbara blushed, even as her kids sung their agreement.

"But it's so…expensive!"

"Billionaire, remember? Just follow the rules of the road and all that wonderful stuff. You'll be fine." He tossed her the keys with a smile, watching as her children immediately latched onto her hands as they begged her to take them for a ride around the city. "Trust me, it'll be fine. It's a smooth ride, GPS, all the good stuff. I think your kids are about to lynch you if you don't take them anyway." He laughed, watching as the mother finally succumbed to the two kids hanging off her arms, trying to drag her outside. Then they were gone, leaving two men alone in a too quiet house.

"So…what's wrong?"

"It's about Harvey." The amusement he had displayed previously vanished, his expression turning serious. Jim was immediately attentive.

Gordon stood in front of him, mouth drawn into a thin line, listening as Bruce explained what was going on with Dent. He sat down slowly, sinking into the chair behind him in his living room. Bruce had at one point in time been a near constant addition to the Gordon household, when he was younger. Then he had gone off to college way too early and soon after vanished off the face of the Earth. He hadn't come back in years. At least, not as Bruce. Gordon was still trying to get used to the feelings of déjà vu, staring up at a man who stood almost exactly as a small boy had stood before, hunched and insecure.

"I don't know what might happen. I don't think a relapse is likely, but…I don't know. I don't know what to do for him." Bruce frowned darkly, sighing.

"Well…football games are always a good standby…"

"I hate football."

"You own the team…" Gordon raised an eyebrow at him in a mixture of question and incredulity.

"…So? I own a lot of things I don't use. Why is this surprising?" Bruce shrugged, sighing. "You know, I never really realized how little of a social life I have outside of dating random women and business meetings that are cleverly disguised golf games. The worst part about that is I hate golf. I think I might actually need to get out more."

Gordon snorted. "Least you have something of a social life, right? I can't remember the last time I actually hung out with my kids." He realized what he said a moment after it slipped from his mouth, ready for the wince that followed.

"And I just monopolized your time again for Harvey. Dammit, I'm sorry."

"Look, it's not your fault. We're walking a very narrow line here. If one falls the other follows, I get that. It's happened once. I'll do everything in my power to stop it from happening again. I know you don't mean anything. Hell, when you were younger you…you used to always turn to me for advice. Alfred or I, this is hardly anything new." He blinked, looking at the young man sitting in front of him, a slight smile spreading across his face. "You really have grown up, haven't you?"

Bruce didn't answer, his mouth tugging into a quiet frown before he huffed out a sigh. "Yes, I suppose I have." His eyes narrowed then, looking to the newspaper spread out before him. "You know…suddenly I think I have an idea. How do you think your kids would feel about going to the circus?" Gordon blinked, looking at the article Bruce was indicating.

"'The Haley Circus?'" Gordon read, frowning.

"We've got a while to go yet, but…"

Gordon read the advertisement and a smile slowly split his mouth. "Bruce, I think this might actually be exactly what we need. My daughter was talking about the trapeze earlier; come to think of it I think she was heavily hinting at her interest in this very thing. James would enjoy it, too." He hesitated, frowning. "It would also be best to keep their first meeting after…what happened in an area where there are more distractions than simply sitting across from them at a table. Harvey Dent has become such an important name that if my family can't be seen with him people are going to start wondering. Commissioner's family and the District Attorney unable to sit near each other? People are going to talk."

Bruce frowned. "I hate to do this to you, Gordon."

"You aren't doing anything to me." Gordon's voice was firm, his hand slicing through the air in front of him. There was a pause, both of them staring at each other from across the table, before Bruce looked away.

"House hasn't really changed much." Wayne's voice was quiet, seeking another topic, walking over to the wall to his right, his focus on the pictures hanging there. "Although these are definitely new." He indicated the one that featured Barbara Jr. covered in cake and frosting, laughing at what appeared to be her second birthday. "This one is absolutely hilarious. Did she have a habit of wearing her birthday cakes?"

Gordon laughed, nodding. "Almost every year she managed to find a way to get herself covered in it. It was only this past birthday that broke the habit." He gave a fond smile as he walked over to join the younger man. "Makes me worried, she really is growing up."

Bruce nodded. "How's Jimmy?"

"Fine. Nightmares are less frequent now. In fact he hasn't had one for a few weeks." Gordon sighed. "Sometimes I think that Gotham asks for far too much."

Bruce was silent, mouth in a thin line, before turning to Gordon, his mouth opening to respond, when Jim's cell phone rang.

The Commissioner blinked, before answering it. "Gordon." He listened quietly for a moment before collapsing back onto the sofa. Bruce immediately took a step forward, eyes wide at the sudden motion, expression concerned. Jim grinned slowly at whatever the person on the other end was saying, and Bruce relaxed slowly, an eyebrow rising in question. "Did she now? Oh Lord, the media is going to have a field day…" The other eyebrow joined the first and then Bruce fell over backwards himself, a hand clapped to his forehead.

"She didn't…" Bruce whispered.

"First speeding ticket of her life and it has to be in Bruce Wayne's car." Gordon rested his head in his hand, still holding his phone to his ear as the man at the other end cackled.

Wayne threw his head back and laughed, shaking his head weakly. "Oh Lord, what possessed me to give a Lamborghini to a mother with a teenage boy in the car?"

Gordon rubbed at his temple with his free hand, sighing. "Well…at least it could be worse."

…

It had started out slowly but Harvey Dent had managed to integrate himself back into the Gordon family. Part of the reason for that was Bruce. Aside from Jim, none of his family knew that Bruce was quite aware of what Harvey had done. With his constant charming, his nearly constant pestering, and his quiet urgings, they had finally managed to have a few dinners together without any major tension rearing its ugly head. A few times they had flinched when Harvey went to reach for something that was a little too close, but they were even getting over that.

It was when they decided to finally do something aside from sitting with a table between them that things started to fall back into place, much as Jim said it would. The Gordon family, Harvey Dent, Bruce Wayne, and Alfred Pennyworth all went golfing.

"Gordon, at the moment I absolutely hate you. Did you have to say that it could be worse?"

"How was I supposed to know that my wife would enjoy the idea as well?" Gordon asked, shrugging. "You didn't have to drag my entire family into it."

"You kidding? If I have to suffer, everyone has to suffer. Even your kids." He gave the two of them a rather twisted grin, leading to a giggle from Babs.

"I don't mind. Watching you play is funny."

"…Thank you." He frowned at her, but simply shrugged, turning back to his current set up. Alfred kept to the cart, but he watched, and called out 'helpful' comments.

"You may wish to straighten your back a bit, sir. I must say, if your posture is this bad in all of your golf games, I understand why you do so poorly." Alfred called out, watching as Bruce turned to glare at him over his shoulder.

"Thank you, Alfred. Your comments are, as ever, extremely helpful." His voice was practically dripping with sarcasm, Jimmy and Babs both doing their best to hide their laughter.

"My pleasure, sir," Alfred returned with a grin. Bruce stuck his tongue out at him, straightened his back, and swung. The ball flew perfectly, arching at a wonderful angle, the entirety of them watching with bated breath. And then it fell into a sand-trap. Bruce turned, looked at Alfred, and glared. "Not my fault you have poor aim, either, sir." Jimmy and Babs fell over laughing; he stuck his tongue out at them, too. It only made them laugh harder. Bruce sighed, then indicated for Gordon to have a go. His flew straight, far, and landed directly in the fairway. Wayne frowned, looked at him, and glared. Gordon shrugged. Harvey took his turn then, his back straight, his form perfect…his fell into the water. Bruce gave him a high-five.

It set off a trend, Bruce and Harvey managing to find almost every single trap and obstacle they could. One particularly memorable occasion lead to the golf club flying from Harvey's hand and getting stuck in a tree, along with his ball. None of them were quite sure how he had managed that, but Bruce couldn't stop laughing. Granted, his own particularly memorable moment of missing the ball completely, grooving the ground beside it, and sending his club flying into the water was something that sent Gordon's entire family cackling like mad. Alfred himself snickered a bit, however Bruce had an excuse. It wasn't every day some woman threw herself at your feet and begged you to marry them.

He finally managed to turn her down politely, her friend apologizing profusely for her behavior, and dragging her away. "I'm so, so sorry, Mr. Wayne, she doesn't handle her alcohol that well. I'm the designated driver for the evening as well, Commissioner, just in case you were wondering. It's a really stupid party." She frowned at them, blond brows pinched as she tried to back her friend up fully, letting her stagger against her. "Golf! Really exciting, I know, but her new husband's a pro-golfer." She gave a brief broken laugh. "Yeah, she has a new husband; oh he is not going to be happy…" The two of them left, her cheeks red as a beet.

"Good luck!" Bruce called out after them, blinking owlishly. "I swear, they hide in the bushes and come out in packs."

"I don't know, Master Wayne, that other woman seemed to have a very good head on her shoulders. Perhaps you should have asked her on a date? She would certainly be a far cry above most of your…usual choices." Alfred smiled at him and Bruce whirled around.

"Alright, that's it. Get out of the cart."

"Pardon?"

"You're swinging. Once. You're going to sit there and give out your oh so helpful advice, you're going to put your ability where your mouth is. Take this." He pulled out a spare club and put it in his Butler's hand, helping him out of the cart and setting him up. "And swing." Alfred frowned at him, frowned at them, shrugged, and lined himself up. A perfect swing followed a perfect arc, followed a perfect landing, and a perfect hole in one. Bruce glared, turned back to Alfred, took the club, and pointed to the cart. "Get back in the cart."

"Yes sir." The smug smile on his face belied his submissive tone and the whole of them found themselves laughing. Shortly after they wrapped up their game, none of them really bothering to keep score. Between Bruce's rather vicious chopping and Harvey's rather lackluster swinging, Gordon's game suffered as well. He found himself laughing more than he could stand, especially when the two of them saw fit to tag-team him.

"And it's Commissioner James Gordon setting up now." Bruce whispered, his voice pitched perfectly to sound like all the golf announcers on television.

"Just look at that form, absolutely perfect." Harvey continued, his voice matching his tone easily. Gordon was stiffening, bracing himself. He knew exactly what was coming. He raised his club; let it come down, and…

"And he's swinging now!" The sudden shout made him jerk, sending the ball off into the trees, looking a bit as though he had been electrocuted. The laughter that followed was perfect; Gordon finally turning to glare at both of them, the innocent expressions on their faces as they watched where the ball had went turning to a click of the tongue and a slight frown.

"Man, what happened there?"

"You had that lined up perfectly."

Gordon's family left with smiles on their faces, Barbara Sr. even going so far as to kiss Bruce, and after some slight hesitation, Harvey on the cheek before leaving, declining the use of the cart and instead choosing to walk. Alfred took her hand and kissed it. Jim took both men aside quietly and nodded to them both. "Thank you, this has been the most fun I think I've had with my family in months. Even if it is because the both of you suck at golf." He walked away laughing, holding his family close, and walking to the car with them in his arms.

Harvey still had his hand where Barbara had kissed him, shock running through him like mercury. "I don't…I don't believe it."

Bruce smirked at him, shrugging lightly, setting up the ball one last time. "What can I say? Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of acting." The swing that followed was precise, accurate, and lead to a perfect hole in one. Harvey snorted.

"_You're_ acting; I can't hit these things to save my life."

"Yeah, well… I had fun. I haven't deliberately botched a game like that since I was playing against the mayor."

"Why'd you botch it with him?" Harvey asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Figured if I won he would have pitched a fit."

"Ah. Are you planning on getting your ball?"

"No…I think someone else is going for it." He pointed; sure enough the three of them watched as the woman from earlier scrambled for the ball, her friend following on her heels, shouting at her. Bruce waved, the unnamed friend catching the motion, and waving back. Her friend was too busy clutching the golf ball to her chest.

"Do you get people like her often?"

"Only sometimes, my friend, only sometimes." Bruce winked.

"Thank the Lord for that, sir."

Harvey laughed, grinning at the two of them. "Thank you, both of you. I honestly never would have expected that."

"That's Master Wayne for you, sir. He never does anything expected."

"Makes life more interesting."

...

_To hopefully circumvent the questions, based on the novelization of the Dark Knight movie, Harvey Dent's father actually killed his mother. Beat her to death. The cops were called several times, but as most of them were corrupt evil people, they did nothing. This explains a few things from the movie, making it a bit more understandable for why precisely he snapped like he did. I thought it was interesting information, so it has been included here, in passing. Enjoy the levity while it lasts, my friends. It's not going to stay for long._


End file.
